AUGUSTA — The comeback fell just short for the Monmouth girls’ basketball team.
The Mustangs had already defeated Boothbay with a buzzer-beater during the regular season, and Monmouth was attempting another comeback Thursday in the Class C South semifinals. Boothbay built a double-digit lead early in the fourth, but the Mustangs had the game down to one possession.
This time, the Seahawks held on for a 36-34 win.
“I’m not disappointed one bit about the game,” Monmouth coach Scott Wing said. “The kids are disappointed about the loss, but we played tough against a good team. I told them in the locker room that this is why we play sports. Somebody’s got to lose and somebody’s got to win. You learn life lessons by being in situations like that.”
Second-seeded Boothbay learned from its earlier loss to the third-ranked Mustangs, when the Seahawks took a late lead but watched Monmouth win at the buzzer on a Hannah Anderson shot. This time around, Boothbay saw the rally coming, but maintained its composure when it mattered.
“It felt like deja vu,” freshman Faith Blethen said. “We knew we were more prepared this time. We’ve been practicing scenarios all week. They were very composed about coming back. It hit us a little bit, but we got our composure and got back in it.”
Hannah Morley hit crucial free throws down the stretch to seal it. After Abbey Allen hit from the foul line with 13 seconds left, the Mustangs tried to foul, but Boothbay ran out the clock.
“Hannah’s free throws were definitely the best part of the game,” Blethen said. “She’s our senior, and she stepped up like she has every game this season. She put it away for us.”
Blethen led the Seahawks (19-1) with 15 points, while Page Brown added seven. Morley finished with five. Monmouth (18-3) got nine each from Haley West and Tia Day. Allen and Sidney Wilson each had eight. Six of Allen’s came in the final quarter as she led the Monmouth comeback.
“That’s all you can ask of your kids to do, play all the way to the end of the game and make the whole game a whole game,” Wing said. “It’s not over until it’s over. We did make some good plays and we made a couple of good defensive plays. We took advantage of a couple of breakdowns on offense and got the ball to the basket and got foul shots.”
Boothbay took control with a third-quarter surge. Down 19-16 at the half, the Seahawks came out with six straight, and a 9-1 run, that had the lead up to 28-22 by the end of the quarter.
“There was a lot of push in the locker room because we knew we were down, but we knew we had more to give,” Blethen said. “We knew we’ve been getting in a rhythm and in our comfort zone. So it was just time to play our game.”
With two six-footers in Brown and Blethen, Boothbay had an advantage on a smaller Monmouth team. The Seahawks have been trying to exploit that size later in the season by utilizing Blethen in the post more.
“I was very happy with how the girls come out in the third quarter and just responded,” Boothbay coach Tanner Grover said. “The way Monmouth came out in the second and third quarters, they shot the heck out of the ball. Hats off to them for a well-executed game plan. We just managed to control the pace in the second half. We got the ball inside a little bit more and took advantage of our size.”
Blethen, Katie Friant and Nicole Clark all scored in that third and then Sydney Meader drilled a 3. Then in the final seconds, Brown was found backdoor for a three-point play that doubled the lead to 28-22.
“That’s something we deliberately do on our part and try to work off our last possession,” Grover said. “It doesn’t always work out that way, but it worked out that way that time.”
A pair of baskets by Blethen early in the fourth had the lead up to 33-23, but Monmouth began to pick away. Day had a three-point play. Then Allen had a steal for another three-point play and the lead was down to 33-29.
After two Allen free throws with 1:07 left, it was 33-31. Monmouth tried to force Boothbay to win from the foul line and Morley made the shots count. She hit a pair with 52 seconds left to make it 35-31. Haley West drew a foul and sank both with 26 seconds left to make it 35-33. Morley was fouled and hit one with 23 seconds left for a 36-33 lead. Monmouth then went to the post again and Allen drew a foul. She hit one but Boothbay managed to run out the clock afterwards.
“We didn’t turn it over,” Grover said. “We made some free throws down the stretch. Our senior Hannah Morley was huge. So it all worked out.”
Monmouth built a 10-7 lead in the first quarter on 3s by West and Wilson. Boothbay took the lead on a Morley basket in the second, but Monmouth finished the half with a 7-3 run. Wilson hit a 3 and West finished off an Allen pass. After three points from Blethen, Day hit two free throws for the 19-16 lead.
From there, Boothbay did a better job on the Monmouth shooters. The Seahawks switched back and forth from zone to a man-to-man to change things up against the Mustangs. Monmouth shot just 1-for-5 in the third and 2-for-8 in the fourth. That made it harder for the Mustangs to chase the Boothbay lead.
“Probably the difference in the game was that little lull in the third quarter when we didn’t score the ball and they got a little bit of a lead,” Wing said. “We fought hard. We came back on them. They’re a good team. There’s a reason they’ve only lost one game all year.”
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