By Bob McPhee,Staff writer

BETHEL – Telstar’s run-and-gun style paid huge dividends in Tuesday’s Western Class C preliminary playoff game.

A pair of baskets by Abby Wentworth with a minute remaining sealed the Rebels’ 56-50 triumph against Mt. Abram.

Telstar and Mt. Abram entered the game with identical 11-7 records and had split their pair of regular-season contests. Both teams’ fullcourt pressing defenses forced numerous mistakes.

With the victory, No. 8 Telstar will make its second-ever trip to Augusta to play top-ranked Dirigo next Tuesday. The Rebels lost two games to the Cougars during the regular season.

“We’re certainly not in fear of them,” said Telstar junior Liz Rosenberg, who scored six points in the fourth quarter. “We’ll show up and play our game.”

Mt. Abram went on an 11-2 run to grab a 43-38 lead after three quarters. Some high percentage baskets were made by Brittany York and Brianna Wilkins (17 points, 13 rebounds).

Telstar tied the score on a 3-pointer by Chea Davis (18 points, five rebounds), but the Roadrunners regained the lead on a Logan Walker (nine points) free throw. The score was knotted twice more before Wentworth (11 points) dribbled in low and scored off an offensive rebounds.

Mt. Abram had an opportunity to tie the score, but missed four of its final five free throws. The Roadrunners made two of nine shots in the fourth quarter.

On the other end, Telstar shot 46 percent from the floor and made five of seven free throws in the fourth quarter.

“We executed better in the second half,” Rebels forward Bailey Davis said. “We were able to penetrate with the ball and then kick the ball out. It allowed us to get some open looks at the basket.”

Telstar pulled ahead by nine point on two possessions in the second quarter. Bailey Davis drained a trey and Lindsay Hart assisted Wentworth. The Roadrunners came back on a Jocelyn Plog 3-pointer to trail 26-23 at halftime.

“We had come out flat,” Telstar coach Aaron Bean said. “But, we wanted to continue to push the ball and get them in foul trouble. We felt that we could create some mismatches underneath.”