Hailey Welch of Forest Hills (44) covers Lexi Bjork (11) of Greenville during a Class D South quarterfinal on Monday at the Augusta Civic Center. Dave Dyer/Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA – The Forest Hills girls basketball team went to work quickly Monday in the opener of what it hopes is a long march through the Class D South playoffs .
The No. 2 Tigers rolled to a 42-24 win over No. 7 Greenville in a quarterfinal game at the Augusta Civic Center. Sophomore guard Allie Dunning led the Tigers (13-6) with 18 points – including four 3-pointers – while sophomore forward Grace Allen added 15 points. Forest Hills will play No. 3 Seacoast Christian in the semifinals on Thursday at 10 a.m. at the Civic Center. The Guardians (10-9) beat No. 6 North Haven 51-27 Monday morning.
“We’re definitely very excited,” Allen said. “We’re definitely very happy. The beginning of the season was rough for this team, some pretty close games. But we’ve slowly progressed. Teamwork was definitely key.”
Greenville finished 4-15. Haley Ferland led the Lakers with eight points.
A 7-0 run helped Forest Hills right out of the gate. The Tigers jumped out to a 10-2 lead by the end of the first quarter. Dunning hit all four of her 3-pointers in the second half.
“(My shooting) had gone a little downhill toward the end of the (regular) season,” Dunning said. “But I’ve been shooting around, just getting time in and that’s helped a lot.”
“I feel a strong start to the game is definitely (key),” Forest Hills head coach Bob Manix said. “I loved that start; you couldn’t ask for a better way to start the game off.”
Allen’s impact on the boards and in the post was most evident in the second quarter, adding seven of her 15 points in the period. By halftime, Forest Hills enjoyed a 24-13 lead.
“It’s always a wrestling match (fighting for rebounds),” Allen said. “(Greenville) is a tough team, but it’s always fun to play them. They’re a good bunch of girls, it’s definitely a challenge.”
“(Allen) is a monster,” Allen said. “She’s the key player of the team. She always puts the team on her back and gets us going. When she’s on fire, you just can’t stop her.”
Dunning and Allen helped lengthen the Tigers’ lead to 34-16 by the end of the third quarter. The Lakers tallied eight points and stayed even with Forest Hills in the fourth, but the Tigers’ lead was too much to overcome.
Forest Hills swept the three games with Greenville, including 42-39 on Jan. 5 and 41-30 on Jan. 31.
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