AUGUSTA — The last time the Boothbay girls’ basketball team won any kind of championship, the players on this year’s team weren’t born.
But the current Seahawks have heard all of the stories about that 1984 state title.
“We have a couple of players that had parents on the team,” sophomore forward Page Brown said. “My mom was on that team, and Faith Blethen’s mom was on that team. Last year, we had a huge luncheon to celebrate 30 years. We got to meet all the players. It was really cool.”
Now the younger Boothbay basketball players have their own stories to tell.
The Seahawks rode their defensive play early and got rolling on offense as in a 40-24 win over Madison in the Class C South girls’ basketball championship game at the Augusta Civic Center. It’s the first regional crown for the Seahawks since the 1984 title team
“We’ve worked so hard to get here,” Brown said. “It’s really exciting. It’s incredible. I can’t even explain the feel of all of this.”
Brown finished with a game-high 19 points and was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. When Boothbay needed offense Saturday, it was the MVC’s top scorer that produced.
“Page has really kind of struggled the last couple of tournament games,” Boothbay coach Tanner Grover said. “That’s by design, with the way other teams have played us. She’s an offensive force. They’ve done a good job taking her away. I was really happy for her. She kind of broke out tonight. She’s been a big part of our success.”
Boothbay (20-1) also got a great outing from junior guard Kate Friant, who finished with 14 points and hit some timely shots for a Seahawks offense looking for a spark.
“Kate had her best offensive game of her career,” Grover said. “People don’t realize that Kate’s been a point guard for me since she was a freshman. She’s made herself one of the better point guards in Class C. She did a great job of recognizing that if they take away Faith or take away Page, she had room to operate.”
Kayla Bess and Sydney LeBlanc led Madison (14-8) with five each. Madeline Wood and Ashley Emery each had four.
“Defensively, I thought we played pretty well in the first half,” Grover said. “We were conscious of trying to contain Kayla Bess and Madeline Wood, two great shooters. They rebound the ball so well. So rebounding out of our zone was a main focus for us.”
Boothbay averaged just 25 points against during the regular season, the best in the MVC and in the Class C tourney field. The defense played so well for Boothbay, it gave the Seahawks some time to settle in.
“Our defensive pressure only allowed six points in the first half,” Brown said. “So we were doing something right. It just helped us settle in and helped us relax a little bit.”
Boothbay had a 13-6 lead at the half. Brown had seven points for Boothbay while Friant had six, including a 3 in the second quarter. Madison shot just 3-for-22 in the half and got four points from Emery in the first and a single basket by Whalen in the second.
In the third quarter, Boothbay started to get some offense going. Brown, Friant and Hannah Morley each had four as the Seahawks preserved the lead and were up 25-12 after three.
“Offensively we had some careless turnovers that cost us a few points” Grover said. “But I think in the third quarter, we finally settled in and found our stride and got some nice offensive rhythm.”
Madison started to hit some shots. Bess hit a 3 in the third and LeBlanc and Wood each hit 3s in the fourth, but the Bulldogs could never really put a dent in the lead. Each time Madison tried to spark momentum, Boothbay came right back.
“I was really proud about how we responded,” Grover said. “We had a couple of breakdowns. Madison was able to find some open shots, but we had an answer every time.”
Brown finished things off in the fourth with eight points while Friant and Blethen sank free throws to secure the lead.
“Defense is our backbone,” Grover said. “When we get clicking on offense, we can be pretty tough to stop.”
kmills@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
