AUGUSTA – Gould Academy coach Lesley Nesbitt isn’t sure if her Huskies would have been better off confronting the Hyde Phoenix less or more frequently during the Western Class D season.
Three prior meetings meant there were no secrets between the prep school rivals. No. 6 Hyde took the lessons to heart Saturday and erased a winter’s worth of frustration with a 54-52 overtime triumph over No. 3 Gould in the regional quarterfinals at Augusta Civic Center.
Still, the more Nesbitt thinks about it, she’s convinced the Huskies (13-6) could have used six or seven additional games against Hyde (10-9), or at least a reasonable facsimile.
“Our season was a few really competitive games and some blowouts, and the blowouts kind of shook our focus. We had an easy win at Averill, then we lost to Seacoast Christian on the road, and I don’t think we ever really recovered,” Nesbitt said.
Shanikwa James, Hyde’s 5-foot-9 junior playmaker, sat out one of the three Gould games. The Huskies won by 20.
With James in the lineup, the Phoenix are a bird of a different color. Armed with the ball-handling skills of a guard but the ruggedness of a center, James erupted for 27 points and 23 rebounds.
She scored a conventional three-point play off the opening tap to launch overtime. Later, while double-teamed in the paint, James kicked out to Shayna Diaz for a 10-footer that gave Hyde the lead for good with 46 seconds remaining.
“Shanikwa just had an amazing game,” said Hyde coach Betsy Olney, whose team will meet Greater Portland Christian in Wednesday’s semifinals.
Hyde’s Mahalia Gauld hit the first of two free throws to make it 54-52 with 23 seconds to go.
A traveling violation against the Phoenix gave Gould two cracks at the tying bucket in the waning seconds, but bids by Tamara Isham and Heather Kelleher both rattled the rim.
Gould erased a 12-point halftime deficit with smothering backcourt pressure. Kelleher, Amelia Allen and Carley Rudd combined for 13 unanswered points to open the third quarter, putting Gould on top 31-30.
“One of the main things we talked about at halftime was breaking the press,” Olney said, “which didn’t happen.”
Hyde rallied, though, using two James buckets to reclaim a 38-36 lead after three.
There were six lead changes and five ties in the second half and overtime.
Allen, a freshman, fueled the Huskies with 18 points and eight steals. Kelleher added 16 points. Rudd chipped in eight points, six assists and five steals.
“We played one senior, and she was out there only a few minutes,” Nesbitt said. “This team’s amazing. It’s the closest we’ve come to winning a game here while I’ve been the coach.”
Gould sought its first win at the civic center since 1979.
Diaz, one of three seniors on the floor for Hyde in the fourth quarter and OT, finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
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