AUGUSTA – Most basketball teams suffer an understandable concentration lapse after flying in front by 30 or 40 points. Most of them can even get away with it.

Not the Buckfield girls. The fourth-seeded Bucks’ 76-22 trouncing of the No. 12 Islesboro Eagles in a Western Class D quarterfinal Tuesday morning at Augusta Civic Center nicely demonstrated their built-in, happy problem.

“We can play so many kids who are capable, that our girls know they have to keep playing hard and keep playing well if they want to stay in the game,” said Buckfield coach Troy Eastman.

Two of Buckfield’s four double-digit scorers were reserves that blended into the Bucks’ persistent, half-court attack without missing a beat. Freshman Ashlee Hamann put up 17 points. Sophomore Abby Jones produced a season-high 14 points and a team-leading 14 rebounds.

Kasey Farrington also fashioned her highest output of the winter with 17 points and seven rebounds. Alyssa Henderson drained both Buckfield 3-pointers en route to 10 points, seven assists and five steals to highlight one of the most prolific team performances in Western D tourney history.

Buckfield fell only a baker’s dozen shy of Monmouth’s single-game record of 89 points set in 1991.

“Even though we might have different people on the court, we always play together as a team,” Hamann said. “We all give the same effort.”

Buckfield (13-4) also erased the memory of last year’s 44-34 quarterfinal loss to Kents Hill and moved into the semifinals at 11:30 a.m. Thursday against another potent prep school, top-seeded Hyde.

Caitlin Anderson amassed 11 points and seven rebounds for Islesboro (9-10), which upset No. 5 North Haven in a preliminary game last week to earn its second-ever trip to Augusta.

The Bucks bolted to a 13-0 lead at the start and kept their foot on the accelerator while giving everyone a turn at the steering wheel. Buckfield held Islesboro without a field goal in the third quarter and harassed the Eagles into 8-for-47 (17 percent) shooting and 30 turnovers. It was 40-16 at the half without any Buckfield individual notching more than eight points.

Even with the expanding lead, the Bucks resisted the temptation to deviate from their game plan and continued to work the ball inside patiently for easy hoops. When they missed, second and third chances came abundantly.

Buckfield’s advantage on the boards (65-24) virtually mirrored its blistering pace on the scoreboard.

“We usually go at least eight players deep,” Eastman said. “The hard part of coming in here is having seven, eight, nine or 10 days off since your last game. But we were not flat, not rusty. There were a lot of nots for us. We ran our offense and got everybody involved.”


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