AUGUSTA - When Waynflete School played the Monmouth Mustangs in the preseason, the Flyers didn't get much of a look at Alyssa Morin.

The junior forward missed almost all of that game to an injury while her Mustangs won easily at Winthrop's preseason tournament. Thursday, Morin made sure Waynflete noticed her. She led the Mustangs dominant post play as Monmouth beat the Flyers 44-41 in a Western C semifinal at the Augusta Civic Center.

"I personally didn't get to see them in the preseason," said Morin. "I got poked in the eye. I was in the ER. I had to show them what they were missing out on."

After a disappointing early exit in the quarterfinals last year, the Mustangs advance to the regional final for the first time in Class C. Monmouth last reached the title game in 2000 in Class D.

"We were in third grade," said senior guard Jill Armstrong. "We've been on travel teams, and we dreamed of getting this far. Just to get here is great."

The second-ranked Mustangs (19-2) utilized its post play to take the early lead. Monmouth had Waynflete down by as many as 11 points thanks in large part to Morin and Moe Beaulieu. Morin had 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds like she was commissioned for each. Beaulieu added 11 points.

"The guards made it easy for us underneath," said Morin. "They just laid it down to us when they'd see us open. We just laid it off the boards. They did the hard work. We just put it in the basket."

Monmouth's defensive game was equally vital. The Mustangs limited third-ranked Waynflete (17-4) to outside shots for much of the first three quarters as the Flyers shot 8-for-23 in the first three quarters, including 0-for-6 to start the second quarter. Margaret Veroneau, who led Waynflete with 22 was held to just six points in the second and third quarters. She led the Flyer's late charge with seven in the final quarter. The Flyers capitalized on eight Monmouth turnovers and got within two in the final minute. Armstrong came up with a key steal that led to a pair of Jenn Lola free throws with 30 seconds left. Then Katie Woodman forced another turnover that led to another Lola free throw.

"My girl hadn't been shooting a lot," said Armstrong. "In practice, I've been helping Katie guard Veroneau. So I laid off my girl a little bit, and Katie played great defense and forced her to me. I just got lucky."

Lola finished with just six points, but other Mustangs rallied to the cause. In addition to her outstanding defense on Veroneau, Woodman added six points while Armstrong had seven on top of her superb play at the point.

"Lola does an incredible amount of stuff for us, but we truly are a team, and it showed," said Monmouth coach Rick Amero. "She had six points, and we had 44. The other kids stepped up.That's what they've been able to do."

Monmouth watched the Flyer defense beat Mt. Abram Tuesday and assumed it might see the same thing. The Mustangs worked on getting the ball inside and exploiting the weak side. Armstrong, Lola and Woodman did a superb job getting the ball down low. When shots missed Morin was immense on the offensive glass.

After trailing 10-7 after the first, a Lola steal, a Woodman jumper and a Morin basket off a Woodman feed put Monmouth ahead for good early in the second quarter. The Mustangs finished the half up 21-15 after Armstrong set up Morin and Woodman hit two free throws in the final minute.

"We worked on it this morning, and the coaching staff did a great job preparing them for that (defense)," said Amero. "Alyssa just had a humongous game."

Beaulieu paced the Mustangs in the third with five points as Monmouth got the lead up to 30-19. Five straight points by Veroneau cut it 30-24 before a Morin basket finished the quarter.

Down by nine, the Flyers made a run at it and used a 9-2 run to get within 41-39 in the final minute.

"We struggled a little offensively down the stretch," said Amero. "Waynflete picked up the intensity. Our defense bent a little but didn't fold. They stepped up and made a couple of stops and Armstrong came up that huge steal."