AUGUSTA — In the Class C South quarterfinals, the Boothbay High School girls basketball team struggled to put away St. Dominic. So entering Thursday afternoon’s semifinal against Madison, were the Seahawks concerned that inconsistent play would continue?
“No,” Boothbay coach Brian Blethen said. “No doubts, and that was the message. We didn’t want to leave any doubt in anyone’s mind. Yes, we had a bumpy quarterfinal game, but we know what we’re capable of doing and how we want to play.”
The top seed in the region, Boothbay dominated the Bulldogs on Thursday at the Augusta Civic Center, cruising to a 55-23 win. No. 1 Boothbay, now 20-0, will face No. 3 North Yarmouth Academy (16-4) in the regional final Saturday at 7 p.m., also at the Civic Center.
No. 13 Madison, the lowest seed remaining in the field, finished 7-14.
Madison guard Emily Edgerly looks to shoot during a Class C South semifinal game against Boothbay on Thursday at the Augusta Civic Center. Kennebec Journal photo by Joe Phelan
Boothbay scored the first 20 points of the game and led 20-1 after one quarter. The Blethen sisters, 6-foot-1 senior Faith and 6-2 sophomore Glory, controlled the game, as the Seahawks dictated the pace.
“We need be assertive on offense and not play tentative as we did in the quarterfinal game. That’s what we worked on,” coach Blethen said.
“They have two players who are taller than all of our team. They do some good things,” Madison coach Al Veneziano added. “You’ve got to come up and be aggressive with them. I thought we laid back a little bit, but hey, that’s the way it is.”
Madison’s Katie Worthen, left, shoots as Boothbay’s Fatih Blethen defends during a Class C South semifinal game Thursday at the Augusta Civic Center. Kennebec Journal photo by Joe Phelan
Glory Blethen scored 13 of her game-high 20 points in the first half as Boothbay built a 35-7 halftime lead. Faith Blethen, a semifinalist for Miss Maine Basketball, had a quiet double-double, with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Emily Edgerly led Madison with eight points.
The Bulldogs upset No. 4 Hebron Academy in the preliminary round, then beat No. 12 Traip in the quarterfinals. Just reaching the playoffs was a goal for a Madison team that began the season short on varsity experience.
“I’m very pleased with how the kids have played the last few weeks. We came back with no starters on our team this year. Lauria LeBlanc was out the first six weeks this year with a hand injury. For us to be in a position where we qualified for the tournament, we should be very pleased,” Veneziano said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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