Second-seeded Brunswick used a dominant second quarter Monday to score a 56-30 victory against seventh-ranked Mt. Ararat in a Class A South girls’ basketball quarterfinal at the Portland Expo.
Brunswick (18-1) will take on third-seeded Marshwood (15-4) in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Cross Insurance Arena.
The Dragons defeated Mt. Ararat for the third time this season, and players from both teams play AAU basketball together.
“There’s a lot of friends,” said Brunswick Coach Sam Ferrell. “I don’t know if we know a team better than them, but it’s tough to beat a team three times.”
“I call it the devil you know or devil you don’t know, because Marshwood wasn’t going to be an easy draw, either,” said Mt. Ararat Coach Andy Morris. “It’s kind of fun the … rivalry type stuff, but they’re a good team and we knew a lot about them.”
The Eagles were able to keep pace with Brunswick early, taking an 11-10 lead before the Dragons responded with a 5-0 run to end the first quarter.
The Dragons then all put the game away with an 18-1 run in the second and went into halftime with a 35-15 lead.
“We had fast ball movement,” said Charlotte MacMillan, who scored 16 of her 23 points in the second quarter, including 4 of 4 on 3-pointers. “It’s something we really work on a lot.
“She’s a special player, but the key was she was the open one,” said Farrell. “She wasn’t forcing it. The ball hit three or four kids’ hands without touching the floor and then we got a great look.”
Brunswick continued to move the ball in the second half and built its lead to 47-24 by the end of the third quarter.
“When your program is trying to turn around, the first step is getting to this floor and getting a taste of it, getting everybody on it,” said Morris, the Mt. Ararat coach.
“We accomplished that goal; now the girls just have to realize it’s not going to come easy next year.”
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