RICHMOND

Richmond was losing at the end of the first half of Friday night’s girls high school basketball game against Old Orchard Beach.

But in a way, the Bobcats were winning.

After falling behind 15-5 in the opening frame and being held scoreless for the first five minutes of the game, they stormed back and closed the second quarter on an 8-0 run. Coach Mike Ladner and the home crowd erupted as senior Kelsea Anair hit back-to-back buckets to cut the lead to just five. An ugly start to the game was suddenly gone, and despite the small deficit, it was clear that Friday night, Senior night, was Richmond’s.

The Bobcats dominated the second half and went on to avenge their Jan. 9 loss to the Seagulls, taking the Class C South game, 54-34.

“I called a timeout and we made an adjustment on the press-breaker,” Ladner said. “We were able to realize we could get the ball over the top and beat them. If we can beat the press, it doesn’t give them a chance to get set up in the zone. We were successful in the transition.”

Anair hit two more buckets to begin the third quarter, quickly tying the game at 21, before sophomore Sydney Tilton went on a tear and scored 10 straight points for Richmond (13-2). Tilton dominated the paint (nine rebounds), and scored 18 of her 22 points in the second half. A chat with Ladner just before the start of the third quarter proved impactful.

“I asked her to just keep her eyes on the prize,” Ladner said of Tilton. “She needs to look at the basket and go up nice and soft. She was anxious and she was shooting them hard. I said just go up nice and soft like you can. I thought her and Kelsea Anair really stepped it up tonight.”

Anair tallied 19 points and stepped back to hit a pair of treys in the first half. She was active inside, boxing out for rebounds and going for loose balls down the baseline.

But, her outside shooting switched the momentum for the hosts. By the end of the third quarter, a once 12- point deficit had turned into a 12-point lead.

“Coach kind of preached to us before the game that we’ve got to bring our energy,” Anair said. “We’ve got to come out tough. Even though we started slow, we turned it around and brought it back.”

“Energy,” Tilton said. “We came alive. We came with vengeance. We started to hit outside shots and we started to hit inside shots. We were feeding off each other’s energy.”

Old Orchard Beach (7-9) halted the Bobcats’ offense with high pressure in the first quarter, forcing four turnovers and not allowing a basket until past the fiveminute mark. Leading the way was freshman Emily Greenlee, who paced the Seagulls with nine points on five rebounds. Senior Peyton Feitz, who battled Anair on the boards, had two steals in the quarter and chipped in with seven points and four rebounds. Vanessa Hebert scored her five total points on two shots to open the game.

The Seagulls went ice cold after their dominant opening quarter, scoring just 10 points in the next two. Seven of their 11 field goals came before halftime.

Richmond took advantage. Ladner talked about how Old Orchard Beach’s press beat them in their first meeting, and half the battle on Friday was finding a way to beat it. When they finally did just before halftime, the floor opened up and the shots started falling.

“We talked before the game, us and the girls, and we agreed that when we played them the first time, it was probably the worst game of the season for us,” Ladner said. “We worked a lot on their press-breaker, and it seemed to work.”

The Bobcats shot 34 percent from the floor, but used 17 second-half turnovers from Old Orchard Beach to keep possession and run out the clock.

Ladner admitted that the loss to the Seagulls earlier this month, one of only two for Richmond, was “absolutely” on his team’s mind during Friday’s rematch. For him, it was a statement win, and it came at just the right time.

“If we really want to compete in the tournament, we had to start tonight,” Ladner said. “OOB is a really good Class C school, they’ve been a good program for many years. By beating them, I think it proved that we’re going to be able to play at the next level.”

For Anair, the win was about more than revenge. Richmond’s five seniors started and closed the game on Friday, and Anair, playing in her last regular-season game on her home court, said it was a special moment heading into her final postseason,

“It means a lot to us,” Anair said. “We’ve put in a lot of work to come and beat this team and place high in the tournament. We have a really good group of girls this year heading into the tournament. We’ve worked together to pull as a team and we’re excited for the tournament.”

“It was a huge moment for them,” Ladner said of his seniors. “The girls played well. I hope they cherish it. It’s their last time on the court , and I think they had a good time. I think we went out with a bang.”

Richmond will close its season with back-to-back games at Vinalhaven, Monday at 5:30 p.m. and Tuesday at 9 a.m., before playing at Valley on Wednesday.

Richmond 54,
OOB 34

Friday, at Richmond High School
OOB— 15649—34
Richmond — 5 12 20 17 — 54
Seagulls — Vanessa Hebert 2-0-5,
Victoria Niedzwiecki 0-0-0, Peyton
Feitz 2-3-7, Kaitlyn Cote 1-2-4, Brianna Plante 2-0-5, Emily Greenlee 2-4-
9, Megan Niedzwiecki 0-0-0, Tiffany
Leclair 0-0-0, Meghan LaPlante 1-0-
2, Jennifer Palkovic 1-0-2. Totals —
11-9-34.
Richmond — Jade Gammon 0-0-0,
Kyla Johansen 1-0-2, Kalah Patterson
0-0-0, Autmn Acord 0-0-0, Kelsea
Anair 7-3-19, Meranda Martin 0-0-0,
Caitlin Kendrick 0-0-0, Sydney Tilton
7-8-22, Ashley Abbott 1-2-4, Cassidy
Harriman 1-0-2, Mackenzie Abbott 2-
1-5. Totals — 19-14-54.
3-point field goals — (OOB) Vanessa
Hebert, Brianna Plante, Emily Greenlee; (R) Kelsea Anair 2.
Records — Seagulls 7-9, Richmond
13-2.
Up next for the Bobcats — Today at
Vinalhaven, 5:30 p.m.