AUGUSTA — When Sophia Holmes was sent back into the game Friday, she wasn’t quite sure why.
Her Messalonskee girls’ basketball team was up handily on Waterville in a Class A North quarterfinal, yet the junior guard was headed back into action in the final quarter.
What Holmes was unaware of was that she was closing in on the record for most 3-pointers in an East/North tourney game.
“I didn’t know,” Holmes said. “Coach said, ‘Go back in, and I was like, ‘Are you sure?’ Then I went back in, but I didn’t know why.”
Holmes finished one shy of the record but still produced an impressive performance. She had a game-high 34 points, including six 3s to lead Messalonskee to a 64-44 win over the Purple Panthers.
“We caught wind that she was on the verge of breaking the record,” Messalonskee coach Keith Derosby said. “So we tried to give her another chance at it. I think it was the person who had the record who came over and told my assistant. So we wanted to give her a go at it.”
The Class A record of seven 3s was set by Dawn Higgins of Lawrence in 1991. Holmes came close, but still was dominant as the Eagles (16-3) advanced to the semifinals to face Gardiner.
Holmes scored 11 points in the first quarter as Messalonskee roared out to a 16-7 lead. McKenna Brodeur added 15 for the Eagles.
“She’s improved leaps and bounds since her freshman year,” Derosby said of his junior forward. “We moved her inside then and she was willing to do it. She just worked at it and tried every day. She’s just a good athlete. She transfers a lot of the stuff from soccer onto the basketball floor. She just doesn’t stop.”
Waterville (9-11) got 17 from Fotini Shanos and 13 from Jordan Jabar.
The Eagles had defeated Waterville 53-30 and 63-33 in the regular season. The latter was the regular season finale, so Messalonskee wanted to jump out to a quick start and set the tone early. Having been in the tourney last year was an advantage for the Eagles.
“We have a lot of girls that have been here and played here” Holmes said. “They know what to expect with the atmosphere.”
Shanos and Jabar had all of Waterville’s points in the first half and tried to keep the Panthers close. Holmes had five points, including a 3 in the second quarter while Brodeau had six points. That put the Eagles up 31-13 at the half.
“We started off really well and played well throughout the game” Holmes said.
Jabar had seven in the third and Madison Foster had five, but Holmes had another seven points and Brodeur had five to increase the lead to 46-27. Holmes finished with 11 in the fourth, including a trio of 3’s.
“My teammates found me” Holmes said. “I was open. They did it all really.”
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