AUGUSTA — Megan Therrien might just have to watch a tape of Thursday’s Western C semifinal.

The senior guard from Livermore Falls might not have seen too much of the action while her Andies bounced Waynflete 31-27.

That’s because Therrien had a job to do, and she did it well. She was focused on guarding Flyer sophomore guard Martha Veroneau. That’s exactly what Therrien did. She set her sights on No. 12 and never let her venture far from her intent stare, long arms and quick feet. She may not have seen much of the rest of the game, but Therrien saw plenty of Veroneau and vice versa.

Veroneau had scored 37 points against St. Dom’s in Tuesday’s quarterfinal and hit a Western C record seven 3-pointers. That didn’t happen on Therrien’s watch. Veroneau had one point at halftime and finished with just five points.

“I had watched her the last game she played,” said Therrien. “She was amazing. She was making every shot. Then I noticed that nobody was really on her. Coach said in practice that I had to guard her and nobody else, no help defense or anything. I just stayed focused on her.”

The Flyers hadn’t scored less than 33 points all year and had won seven in a row and 12 of its last 13. Waynflete ran into a determined defensive effort that gave little give to the Flyers. The Andies even brought in a boys’ basketball player with a quick release. It was decided that Therrien’s long arms and athleticism would allow her to keep pace with Veroneau and hinder her shot.

“That’s all we worked on,” said Livermore Falls coach Mark Simpson. “We didn’t work on offense at all. We worked only on defense and only on (Veroneau). That’s all we did.”

Leight Fernandez led the Flyers (14-4) off the bench with eight while Liz Lewis added seven. The Flyers had lost to an MVC in the regional final the last two years.

“It’s amazing,” said Therrien. “Our whole team loves each other. We’re just so pumped for the next game. We’ve never gone this far. It’s just so exciting.”

The Andies (17-3) advance to Saturday’s regional final against Hall-Dale, a rematch of the MVC game and last year’s quarterfinal in which the Bulldogs eliminated the Andies. It is the first appearance in a regional final for Livermore Falls since the Andies lost to Winthrop in 1989.

“Last year, we got knocked out in the first round,” said Kathryn Ventrella, a junior guard. “We knew we could do it. Getting to the Western Maine final is really incredible.”

The Andies only had three players score. Marissa Welch had 15 in the post while Ventrella had 14, including eight in the fourth quarter. Micaela Baron added two.

“We worked to keep the pace down throughout the game,” said Ventrella. “We wanted to keep it under control and hopefully get the ball in the hoop and keep them from scoring.”

Therrien did her part in that regard. Veroneau had just single field goals in the third and fourth quarters. She was able to disrupt the Flyer offense which shot just 4-for-23 in the first half and 3-for-18 in the second half.

“People would yell, ‘Get the ball Megan,'” said Simpson. “I didn’t want Megan to get the ball. She had a job to do. That was her whole job.”

Still, the Flyers built a lead midwday through the fourth. Waynflete clung to a 17-16 lead entering the final quarter. Lewis made it a four-point game with a basket in the post. She later made it 24-20 with a free throw with 4:13 left.

“It hit us pretty hard,” said Ventrella of the four-point deficit. “Coach called time out. He told us we were only down by four and that we could comeback from this. And we came back.”

The Andies defense made the stops and then got the ball inside to Welch for back-to-back baskets. All of a sudden the Andies were back in business.

“I told them not to listen to the crowd,” said Simpson. “The crowd wanted them to shoot. We didn’t do that. Even down by four, I knew we had to work it. We had to keep it close. If we were close at the end, we had a chance.”

After Welch tied it, Ventrella put the Andies ahead for good. She drilled a 3 with 2:41 left. Igniting the Andies and their crowd.

“I wasn’t really sure if I should take it or not,” said Ventrella. “But coach said to take it if we were open. So I took it. I wasn’t sure if it was going in, but when it did everyone was really excited.”

The Flyers shot 3-for-8 in the fourth and had four turnovers. Waynflete had a couple chances to trim the lead but could only get hurried shots. After Ventrella hit two free throws with 41 seconds left, Fernandez hit a 3 to make it 29-27. The Flyers fouled Welch and she bumped up the lead with a pair from the line.

Ventrella was outstanding in the fourth. In addition to her eight points, she broke the press with her ball handling and distributed the ball. She was in command of the Andies offense and kept the team composed until the end.

“Everything goes through Kathryn,” said Simpson. “Even if she doesn’t score a lot of points, she runs the show for us. She took charge.”

kmills@sunjournal.com