Monmouth’s Tia Day celebrates by swinging the net she and teammates cut down after their victory over Old Orchard Beach to advance to next week’s state championship game in Bangor against Dexter.
AUGUSTA — Maine Principals’ Association representatives handed Monmouth Academy girls’ basketball coach Scott Wing the game ball following his team’s convincing 65-35 win over fourth-seeded Old Orchard Beach in the Class C South final Saturday night.
It might have been more appropriate for someone to carve out the Augusta Civic Center court’s free-throw lines and give them to Wing instead.
No. 3 Monmouth set a new record for free throws made in a tournament game and played stifling defense to win its first regional title in Class C. It won four in Class D, most recently in 2000.
Abbey Allen led the Mustangs (19-3) with 17 points, while Julia Johnson added 12, Hannah Anderson 11 and Tia Day 10.
“It’s crazy,” said Day, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. “So many of us have put in so much extra work, long nights, early mornings. So pulling out a win in this game, it makes us so happy.”
“It’s really exciting,” Allen said. “We’ve been working really hard. All of us play in the offseason, too.”
Emily Greenlee led the Seagulls (13-9) with nine points and 10 rebounds.
The Mustangs set a new tournament record for free throws in a game — making 30 of 38 (79 percent) — and were the more disciplined team all-around. They committed just four turnovers while forcing 21.
“We definitely do a lot of competitions for free throws,” Day said. “Free throws are very important for us. We didn’t do very well in the (quarterfinal) game, so we came out in the semifinal game and wanted to do better and then wanted to do good in this game, too, because free throws definitely do win games.”
The Mustangs shot 6-for-20 (30 percent) from the floor in the first half but more than made up for it at the foul line, making 14 of 19.
OOB’s starting center, 6-foot-2 freshman Maggie Strohm drew two quick fouls and ended up with four before the end of the half. Starting junior forward Meghan LaPlante picked up three fouls.
“We wanted to try to get those big girls having to move early on in the game because they’re obviously pretty tall trees in there that get their hands on a lot of balls,” Wing said. “We knew if we could get them in some foul trouble, it would become our advantage, because then our post players could play against their post players. That was a big emphasis that we had.”
Monmouth scored the first eight points of the game, highlighted by a deep 3-pointer by Day. The Seagulls went without a field goal in the first quarter, missing all six shot attempts while committing seven turnovers, and trailed, 10-2, heading to the second quarter.
LaPlante made the Seagulls’ first shot of the second quarter, and it seemed to get them going as they went on a 9-2 run. Tiffany Leclair’s 3-pointer pulled them within 12-11 with 3:27 left in the half.
Monmouth answered with a 15-3 run to end the half. Day fed Allen inside to put the lead into double digits, and Day followed with a breakaway layup to make it 27-14 at intermission.
“The thing I was frustrated with was we didn’t get scoring much early so we couldn’t get into our press,” Wing said. “I told the girls in the middle of the second quarter, if we can put a little run on and get pressing it will probably turn around in a hurry.”
The second half turned into a rehash of the first.
OOB missed its first eight shot attempts. Strohm fouled out midway through the third quarter, and Monmouth formed a conga line to the charity stripe, where they made nine of 11. Day and Anderson added 3-pointers as the Mustangs blew the game open for a 50-30 lead after three quarters.
Monmouth will be seeking its first state title in any class when it faces Dexter at 7 p.m. next Saturday at Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Monmouth’s Hannah Anderson draws a foul from Old Orchard Beach’s Brianna Plante as she heads to the basket during the first half of Saturday night’s regional at the Augusta Civic Center.
Monmouth’s Emily Grandahl drives to the basket past several Old Orchard Beach players during first half of Saturday night’s regional final game at the Augusta Civic Center.
Monmouth’s Emily Grandahl, center, and teammates celebrate as time runs out in their game against Old Orchard Beach to win the regional finals at the Augusta Civic Center Saturday night to advance to next weekend’s state championship game in Bangor against Dexter.
Monmouth’s Kaeti Butterfield is fouled by Old Orchard Beach’s Maggie Strohm as she goes up for a layup during Saturday night’s regional final game at the Augusta Civic Center.
Monmouth’s Tia Day, right and teammates celebrates after their victory over Old Orchard Beach to advance to next week’s state championship game in Bangor against Dexter.
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