Class C South girls’ basketball: Hannah Anderson sparks Monmouth past St. Dom’s

AUGUSTA — To say that the Monmouth girls’ basketball team was pleasantly surprised when St. Dom’s defeated Dirigo in the preliminary round last week might have been an understatement.

The third-seeded Mustangs had handled the 11th-ranked Saints easily during the regular season, earning a pair of wins by an average of 41 points.

But Monmouth had to be careful what it wished for.

An improved St. Dom’s team wasn’t the pushover the Mustangs had beaten twice already. This Saints team gave Monmouth a battle, and it wasn’t until a third-quarter surge that the Mustangs opened a decent lead. They held on from there for a 51-39 win in the teams’ Class C South quarterfinal.

St. Dom’s shut out Monmouth’s two top scorers in the first half, but Hannah Anderson did her part. She finished with a game-high 26 points and was an early catalyst for the Mustangs, which hadn’t won in Augusta since 2008.

“They were obviously trying to take Tia (Day) and Sidney (Wilson) out of the game,” Monmouth coach Scott Wing said. “Thank God for Hannah stepping up big today. They did a good job of getting us off balance.”

In addition to Anderson’s 26, Haley West added 13. Wilson and Day finished with four each.

“Those two lit us up big time in the other two games,” St. Dom’s coach Jon Berry said of Wilson and Day. “That was our focus defensively. Our girls just played their tails off. They executed everything we wanted them to.”

The Saints (10-10) were led by Caroline Gastonguay with 13. Chloe Dwinell added eight.

When Dwinell picked up her fourth foul in the third quarter, the tide changed. Monmouth (18-2) led at the half, 23-19, thanks to a late 3 from Anderson. Gastonguay scored on a fast break to open the third to get the Saints within 23-21. Monmouth had already targeted Dwinell when her fouls began to add up. An 11-2 run while she was on the bench proved crucial.

“That obviously was a big part when she came out of the game,” Wing said. “That what we had talked about. We wanted to run her up and down the floor and get her in foul trouble.”

Monmouth scored six straight. After two Abbey Allen free throws, Day scored from the foul line with 5:31 left in the third. It was her first point of the game after missing much of the first half because of two early fouls. A three-point play by Anderson made it 29-21.

“Getting a lead definitely helps us,” said Anderson, a sophomore guard. “It made us not stop playing.”

After a basket by Hannah Phalen, Anderson hit a jumper and Day scored on a three-point play to make it 34-23 after three quarters.

Anderson had scored 22 of Monmouth’s 34 points through three quarters.

“It’s my second year and freshman year, I didn’t really get on the court at all, maybe 30 seconds,” Anderson said. “I was really nervous, but after you start playing, it’s like a normal basketball game.”

Gastonguay scored eight in the final quarter to keep the Saints within striking distance. The Saints got as close as 40-33 with 5:47 left, but the Mustangs finished it off. West scored seven in the final quarter and Anderson, Allen, West and Wilson all hit free throws to pad the lead.

“We’ve just grown into a playoff team when other teams would wilt under the pressure,” Berry said. “They’ve just matured and there’s no seniors on the team. So there’s a lot to look forward to.”

St. Dom’s built the early 7-2 lead. Monmouth missed its first four shots and struggled to settle in. Day’s quick fouls and a different lineup as a result had the Mustangs off kilter. Anderson then got hot. She was originally a defensive stopper that got a starting role because of injury. She had 11 in the first quarter and six more in the second as Monmouth came from behind.

“The last eight, nine or 10 games of the regular season, she’s come on as a scorer,” Wing said. “She’s very strong and very athletic. She’s started to come into her own in a basketball sense now.”

Anderson had 17 of her team’s final 21 points in the first half and helped the Mustangs take the 23-19 lead at halftime.

“We were really nervous to play here,” Anderson said. “It was the first time for a lot of people stepping out onto this court. So we were all nervous.”

kmills@sunjournal.com