Class C South girls’ semifinal: Madison goes long, takes out Searsport

AUGUSTA — It defies logical and mathematical odds, but No. 4 Madison reached the Class C South girls’ basketball championship game without a single encounter against a Mountain Valley Conference rival.

Madison used its 3-point prowess to build a comfortable early lead and cruised past No. 8 Searsport, 43-27, in the semifinals on Thursday afternoon at Augusta Civic Center.

The Bulldogs survived a tough home preliminary game against No. 13 Waynflete before taking out No. 12 Traip, and now the Vikings, in the tournament proper.

Life gets more familiar and more challenging for Madison (14-7), which will battle No. 2 Boothbay (19-1) for the regional crowd at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Bulldogs seek their first crown since 2010.

They will have more than a puncher’s chance if they shoot the way they did out of the starting blocks in this one.

Kayla Bess knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers from the same spot on the floor in the first quarter, all off passes from Madeline Wood.

Madison led 13-5 after that barrage. Wood knocked down another bomb from beyond the arc in the second period.

The Bulldogs combined that streaky accuracy with tidy first-half offense (only three turnovers) and sank their teeth into a 24-13 halftime advantage.

Bess and Wood only made free throws thereafter, but the damage to Searsport was done. Wood led Madison with 11 points. Bess added 10. Erin Whalen and Sydney LeBlanc scored seven apiece.

Searsport, which edged top-seeded Richmond in the quarterfinals, couldn’t recover from a 5-for-16 first half from the field.

The Vikings closed it to 37-27 on a steal and reverse layup with three minutes to go, capping a seven-point binge, but Wood and LeBlanc righted Madison with six consecutive free throws.

Ogden capped her stellar career with a game-high 15 points.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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