DIXFIELD — Coach Jon Berry didn’t anticipate making any changes, knowing his team has been playing well and has continued to find ways to win.
The Saints kept on winning Tuesday.
Playing with high energy and intensity on both ends of the floor, and maintaining its composure down the stretch, No. 11 St. Dom’s pulled out a 47-43 win over No. 6 Dirigo at Defoe Gym.
Caroline Gastonguay, the smallest player on the court, consistently came up with big plays and scored a game-high 16 points for the visitors, who now advance to the Class C South quarterfinals at the Augusta Civic Center. The Saints will face No. 3 Monmouth.
Although St. Dom’s lost to Dirigo in a Mountain Valley Conference regular-season game, the Saints trailed by four points with four minutes to play, proving the team could hang with the host Cougars.
Dirigo, which reached the regional finals last year, concludes its season at 12-7. Sabrina Daoud led the Cougars with 18 points. Lauren Henderson and Emma Lueders (8 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) contributed.
St. Dom’s trailed when Allie Veinote drained a 3-pointer to tie the score early in the fourth quarter. The lead was short-lived, because on the ensuing possession, Henderson (12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals) scored in the lane to give Dirigo its last lead.
“I just think that St. Dom’s was able to make some big plays when it counted in the fourth quarter,” Dirigo coach Karen Magnusson said. “We made some mistakes that we hadn’t been doing earlier in the half, and it cost us. The last few points scored were from the free-throw line.”
The Saints stole the ball and Abby Castonguay (11 points, 6 rebounds) scored on a short jumper.
The Cougars were called for traveling, and then Gastonguay made the plays of the game. The 5-foot-3 sophomore guard was planted under the basket and collected two of her five offensive rebounds before scoring to give the Saints a 43-41 lead, with 1:53 left to play.
“I just blocked the crowd out, no matter if it was negative or positive,” said Gastonguay, who had eight rebounds and five steals.
Gastonguay grabbed the ball at half court, and despite almost losing her footing, drove in for an uncontested layup.
Following a pair of timeouts, Dirigo fouled Gastonguay, who made two free throws. The Cougars then intentionally fouled and the Saints missed two free throws, but Gastonguay grabbed the rebound with 11 seconds left. She passed over to Chloe Dwinell (7 points, 16 rebounds). One referee called a tie up, but the another whistled a foul.
“We played together and left every thing out on the court. We play as a family,” the Saints’ Rileigh Stebbins said.
Both teams played defensively throughout, as evidenced by the low shooting percentages for both teams. St. Dom’s was 17-of-55 (31 percent) and Dirigo made 17-of-71 (25 percent , including 3-of-21 in the fourth). Each team turned the ball over 19 times.
In the third quarter, St. Dom’s ralled from a 28-23 deficit at halftime and took the lead on treys by Castonguay and Veinote.
Dirigo stopped a self-induced dry spell and went ahead on a Henderson basket. Daoud stole the ball at midcourt and waltzed in for a layup. Lueders’ free throw gave the Cougars a 37-34 lead after three quarters.
“Lauren stepped it up and did some good things in the entire second half, but that is expected from a senior,” Magnusson said. “We had a good season. I told the underclassmen that its time for them to work hard and put the time in over the summer.”
Dirigo made 9-of-14 free throws, while the Saints were 7-of-21 at the line.
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