AUGUSTA – It was the Elise MacNair Show at the Augusta Civic Center on Tuesday night.
MacNair scored 30 points to lead the Old Orchard Beach girls basketball team to a 53-28 win over Winthrop in a Class C South quarterfinal game. The No. 2 Seagulls (16-3) advanced to the semifinals, where it will play No. 3 Kents Hills at 10 a.m on Friday, also in Augusta.
“We’re happy, but definitely not satisfied,” MacNair said. “We want to keep on going (in the tournament), we’re not satisfied yet.”
The No. 7 Ramblers finished 13-7.
MacNair scored 10 of her 30 points in the first half. A 7-0 run by Old Orchard led to a 14-6 lead after the first quarter.
But it was an 18-0 run by the Seagulls between the second and third quarters that helped pushed the lead to 40-17.
Old Orchard head coach Dean Plante was happy with the team’s start, after having some time off thanks to having a bye before the quarterfinals.
“You fight hard to get a bye, you get it, and then (you go), ‘(Darn), that’s a long layover,'” Plante said. “We were playing well at the end of the (regular) season. When you’re sitting around waiting, we did get a scrimmage in (against) Valley, just to get a run in and try to stay sharp. But our last regular season game was Feb. 6 and here we are, 15 days later.
“The first game is always (full of) nerves for everybody, just because you don’t know what to expect,” Plante continued. “Are you going to come out flat? Are you going to be nervous? The kids responded really well defensively and then fed off that.”
A late 7-0 run helped pace the Seagulls to victory.
“I’m so glad to be back (Augusta Civic Center),” MacNair said. “It’s nerve-wracking at first for sure. I think (early on) I was in my own head a little bit. But, at the end of the day, I need my (brand of) basketball, we need to play (our brand) of basketball. When things start clicking, they’ll start clicking well.”
Abby Roy added nine points for the Seagulls.
Morgan Fichthorn scored 15 points to lead Winthrop, which beat Traip Academy 44-41 in the preliminary round on Feb. 14.
“I’m proud (of the team),” Winthrop head coach John Baehr said. “They played hard, that’s the one thing we preach to them. I thought we did a pretty decent job in the first quarter. (OOB) got a little loose in the second quarter, late in the second quarter. (MacNair) is a great player. She makes shots and she makes plays. We just didn’t put the ball in the hoop when we needed to.”
The Ramblers had their best offensive performance in the fourth quarter, going on an 8-0 run.
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