AUGUSTA — It was supposed to be another building year for Richmond.

After years of dominating the East-West Conference and Western D, the Bobcats were expecting to work on development this winter. Little did the they know they were ahead of schedule.

“There was a new coach, we’re very young, we don’t start a single senior and I put in a whole new offense,” Richmond coach Mike Ladner said, “so I’m very proud of the girls. We also had a crazy schedule with seven games in a row on the road. There was a lot of adversity.”

Friday, Richmond secured a return trip to the regional finals. The Bobcats built the early lead and held off a Vinalhaven rally for a 35-28 win at the Augusta Civic Center. 

“I knew we were strong,” freshman forward Sydney Tilton said. “We’re just touching the absolute top of what we can be as a team. We’re just going to develop even more and more. We’re caterpillars and we’re going to develop into butterflies.”

Richmond returns to the Western D final and plays Rangeley on Saturday at 10 a.m. The Bobcats defeated the Lakers two years ago during their run of three consecutive No. 1 seedings and three straight regional titles.

This Richmond team, however, has just one senior.

Tilton led the Bobcats with 11 points while Meranda Martin added eight and Kelsea Anair chipped in with six. Vinalhaven (10-11) got nine from freshman Gilley Davis-Oakes. Deja Doughty, another freshman, had six.

“I thought the girls did a tremendous job on (Davis-Oakes),” Ladner said. “I felt like they shut her down.”

Richmond nearly doubled Vinalhaven on the boards. That allowed the Bobcats to net its share of putback points.

“We couldn’t hit an outside shot to save our lives,” Ladner said. “So we got a lot of baskets on putbacks. I stressed that to the girls before the game that we were going to have to crash the boards, especially with the big girl Vinalhaven has.”

Richmond built the early lead and was up 9-5 after the first quarter. The Bobcats maintained the lead throughout. Richmond had the lead up to as many as 12 before the Vikings rallied late.

“Coming out with a strong start like that sets the tone of the game,” Tilton said. “They have to play catch up and we stay up. If you stay up as a team, it’s fun. You have to do that every time.”

Richmond did struggle with fouls. Anair, Martin, Autumn Acord, Cassidy Harriman and Tilton all had three. Tilton and Anair finished the game with four.

After building a 20-14 lead by half, the Bobcats opened the lead up to 28-18 in the third. Vinalhaven hit just two shots from the floor in the quarter.

In the fourth, the Vikings made a run, similar to its wins over Buckfield in the prelim and Pine Tree in the quarterfinals. Doughty had a pair of baskets for the Vikings in the final quarter.

The Vikings had a couple of chances to trim the lead down the stretch but missed some shots or turned the ball over.

Vinalhaven did cut it to 30-26 with 1:38 left on two Davis-Oakes free throws. Anair answered with a pair of free throws with 1:26 left. Doughty hit a shot to make it 32-28 with 54 seconds left. Anair cashed in on an open lane for a basket with 40 seconds left. It was Richmond’s only field goal of the fourth quarter. Then Martin hit a free throw to seal it.

“It was definitely nerve-wracking,” Tilton said. “It’s not the best feeling, but as a team, we stayed strong and people stepped up. I put my trust in other teammates.”

kmills@sunjournal.com