Telstar takes on Livermore Falls
Mt. Abram squares off against Wiscasset.
By Kevin Mills
Staff Writer

It’s already a season like no other, but the Telstar Rebels hope for more.

After winning the most games and earning the highest ranking in team history, the fourth-seeded Rebels (12-6) want to continue rewriting the record books tonight. Telstar hosts 13-ranked Livermore Falls in a Western C girls’ basketball preliminary game. It will be the first home playoff game in the program’s history.

“We knew that we’d be playing someone at home,” said Telstar coach Aaron Bean. “The kids, the school, the parents, everybody had it all planned out last week. The whole town’s pretty excited.”

Telstar just missed a third-place seeding, which would have given the Rebels an automatic trip to Augusta and their first quarterfinal appearance. Instead, the Rebels will host the Andies first, coincidentally the team that ousted Telstar in a heartbreaking prelim loss in 2002.

The Rebels are hearing a lot of talk about a possible first trip to the quarterfinals, but Bean is sounding the warning that Telstar still has to win tonight, and that certainly isn’t a given. Livermore Falls played Telstar tough twice in the regular season, and the Andies ended the season with a pair of must-have wins over Madison and Jay to get into the playoffs.

“Those were good games,” said Bean. “Both games Livermore Falls broke out to an early lead, and we had to fight our way back to win. Both times it was the late third or early fourth before we took the lead.”

Ninth-ranked Mt. Abram will also see a familiar foe in tonight’s round of girls’ prelims, eighth-ranked Wiscasset. The preseason favorites have been in a free fall the second half of the season, going just 6-5 and averaging nearly 50 points against during that stretch. The Redskins lost center Amanda Davis to a shoulder injury and have been reeling since.

Mt. Abram has won just once in its last seven outings and been plagued by their own mistakes.

“The last four or five games there’s been so many turnovers,” said Mt. Abram coach Doug Lisherness. “We’ve got to take care of the ball better. We’ve turned the ball over too many times. I think if we can go down there and try to slow down a little bit and be a little more deliberate on the offense that will help. We’ve got to try and be a little more deliberate and be a little more patient.”

With both teams struggling down the stretch, Lisherness feels that if his team can play together, put the pressure on the Redskins early, then they’ll have the upper hand.

“I’ve told the girls two or three times that it’s the way with every game, but it’s magnified in the tournament,” said Lisherness. “The team that comes out as the aggressor usually is going to win. You have to come out strong. There’s a lot of pressure there. If you can come out strong, you can put a lot of pressure on them.”

Winthrop is one team that hasn’t been stumbling. After a 1-6 start, the Ramblers have gone 9-2 to earn tonight’s matchup with unbeaten Kents Hill.

“We just wanted to get in after starting 1-6,” said Winthrop coach Lonney Steeves. “We were just hoping to be 11 or 12 or 13th. Now, honestly, I think we have a legitimate chance of playing Hall-Dale Tuesday afternoon.”

Kents Hill makes for a favorable matchup for the Ramblers. The Huskies play a Class D schedule, one that featured only one team with a winning record. Kents Hill has a few quick guards and solid post players, but the Ramblers hope to use their athleticism and depth to wear down the Huskies. During Winthrop’s 9-2 finish, it only allowed 36 points per game. It’s a trend the Ramblers hope to continue as well as their streak of 19 straight trips to the quarterfinals.

“We like the changes that we’ve made and what we’ve done,” said Steeves. “A lot of it is the commitment to playing better defense and the commitment of getting a lot of people involved. It’s made it easy for the kids. We put in a lot of people, and they work hard and then we just change them up.”

In another Western C prelim, fifth-ranked Jay hosts Sacopee Valley. The Tigers haven’t been to Augusta since 2001. The Hawks were last there the same year after winning two prelims, including an upset of sixth-ranked Traip.

In the Class D prelims, Eastgate meets Gould Academy for the third time. Eastgate won the first outing 41-12 in December, but Gould made a game of it, losing 48-46, in January.

In the Western B tournament, Fryeburg hosts Freeport, a team the Raiders just beat Saturday, 40-27. Fryeburg hasn’t been to the quarterfinals since 1999.

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