By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

Doug Lisherness didn’t really expect to be in this position again.

With most of his club back from last year, the Mt. Abram girls’ basketball coach hoped to improve upon last year. Instead, the Roadrunners will have to win a preliminary game or suffer the same fate.

“If someone would have asked me if we’d be traveling for a preliminary game at the beginning of the season, I would have said, No’,” said Lisherness, whose team won 10 games last year and was eliminated at Wiscasset. “We did have a lot of injuries at the beginning of the year. Half of my team, like a lot of teams, got sick, but we’ve been inconsistent all year. On a given night, if we play our game, we can be there with anyone, but you can’t do that once a week.”

The ninth-ranked Roadrunners (11-7) play at eighth-seeded Telstar (11-7) Tuesday.

“For a lot of the girls, it was their first experience,” said Lisherness. “They knew it was do-or-die. The experience of the game itself will help. The more you’re involved in those, the better you’re going to handle them. I’m hoping we can handle the pressure and the emotional part of it better than we did last year.”

Like Mt. Abram, the Rebels played their way to the quarterfinals last year, beating Livermore Falls in a prelim and earning their first-ever trip to Augusta.

“The way it went last year, we had a good prelim game and we lost to Jay at Augusta, but I think that’s going to carry over,” said Telstar coach Aaron Bean. “Last year, we didn’t know what to expect, and we handled it well. This year, we have the experience from last year, and we’re better off.”

The team’s split during regular season. Telstar won at home 55-46. The Roadrunners took the rematch in Salem, 41-34.

Mt. Abram has to neutralize Telstar’s outside shooting prowess while the Rebels must handle the Roadrunners’ aggressive defense and strong post game.

“I think it will be a battle,” said Bean. “They’re a good defensive team. They like to get after it and push the ball. It will be a good rubber match.”

In another MVC rematch, 10th-ranked Winthrop (10-8) travels to seventh-seeded Boothbay (12-6). The Ramblers lost 62-50 back in December.

“I think we’ve got more kids playing well right now than we did at that point of the season,” said Winthrop coach Lonney Steeves. “I really think either team getting a six- or eight-point lead early in the game can make a big difference.”

The Ramblers are getting over illnesses and nearing full strength. Though Boothbay jumped out to a 7-0 record, they’ve been just 5-6 since.

“We’ve got to handle their pressure,” Steeves said. “That’s how they beat us last time. We turned the ball over a lot against the press. So that’s the thing we’ve got to be able to handle. I think we’re a little more mature team than we were at that time.”

Gray-New Gloucester and St. Dom’s will each have rematches in their respective prelim games. The Patriots (6-12) play at Freeport (10-8) in Western B. G-NG lost to Freeport, 48-47 in the regular season. The Saints (10-6) play at Traip (11-5) in Western C. The Rangers won both regular season games, 53-30 and 46-33.

Jay (13-5) will host Sacopee Valley (7-9) for the second year in a row in Western C. The Tigers beat the Hawks 62-20 last year. Sacopee was without top-scorer Michelle Libby a year ago because of a knee injury.

Other prelims include Monmouth (9-9) at Kents Hill (11-1) in Western C and a D game with Buckfield (6-12) at Seacoast Christian (9-6) in South Berwick. The Bucks aim for their first trip to Augusta since 2001 while the Mustangs haven’t been to the quarters since 2000.