AUGUSTA — We’ve seen this movie a few times. Can analyze the plot from start to finish and even recite most of the lines verbatim.

Rangeley keeps it fun, though. For the second straight year the Lakers entered the Western Class D girls’ basketball tournament as a forgotten, middle-of-the-bracket seed.

Then they went about the business of what they do best at this time of year: Playing above the sum of the parts, picking apart a team that owned them during the regular season and getting to another regional final.

No. 4 Rangeley dominated No. 1 Richmond from start to finish Thursday in a 42-27 semifinal smothering at Augusta Civic Center. It’s the second straight year the Lakers have knocked out the top-ranked team in the semis.

“Some days you look smart and some days you don’t,” said Rangeley coach Heidi Deery. “We just wanted to really put pressure on them. We were the No. 4 team, they were the No. 1 team, and we felt they had to go out and beat us.”

Rangeley (14-6) was brilliant. The Lakers shot the ball more crisply, hammered out their game plan more effectively and guarded the basketball more carefully.

Chantal Carrier scored 14 points and hauled down eight rebounds to lead Rangeley, which will meet No. 3 Greenville at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Lakers will shoot for their seventh regional title. Deery has been involved with each one as a player or coach.

Richmond, like Greenville, swept its regular-season series from Rangeley, winning each game by double digits. But the Lakers’ two-pronged plan to pressure Richmond’s guards defensively and pound the ball into the paint against the Bobcats’ post players offensively worked wonders.

Lured into nine fouls in the first quarter alone, Richmond (17-3) watched Rangeley sink 17 free throws before halftime and finish 21-of-29 from the stripe.

“We practice a lot of free throws,” Carrier said. “It definitely paid off.”

Allie Hammond etched another page in her stellar, two-year tournament career with 10 points, five rebounds and three steals. Sierra Machacos added nine points.

Freshman forward Jamie Plummer (13 points, 12 rebounds, three steals) and senior guard Megan DeRaps (10 points, nine rebounds) provided almost all the highlights for the Bobcats.

They played under the specter of foul trouble throughout, however. Sisters Tara and Danica Hurley each fouled out with two points apiece.

“Ten to two fouls in the first quarter? Yeah, it makes a big difference,” said Richmond coach Molly Bishop. “It takes you out of your game plan. The kids are tentative about playing defense because you’ve got four fouls. Offensively you’ve got that much more pressure on you.”

And tentative was the worst thing Richmond could be, trailing 14-6 at the end of one quarter and 25-12 at the half.

Free throws and turnovers made all the difference on the scoreboard. The teams shot an identical 4-for-19 from the field in the first half. Richmond committed 18 of its 22 giveaways before the break.

“We were just going to try to grind it out,” Deery said. “If we could just hang in and keep the pressure on them, we thought it might go alright for us.”

Even Rangeley’s most sluggish quarter, the third, ended with the Lakers increasing their lead. The Lakers limited the Bobcats to two field goals in the period. An inside bucket and two free throws by Hammond in the final 1:07 inflated the margin to 33-18.

“They’re definitely a really good team,” Hammond said. “They go deep. Even in the last two minutes, we knew we couldn’t let down. They’re really good 3-point shooters, and if they get three 3s in a row, that’s nine points.”

 Richmond got as close as 33-23 in the fourth. Hammond answered with another hoop.

“You just have to keep playing no matter what,” Deery said. “If we’re up 15, play. If we’re down 15, play. They really responded to that. We had a couple of shaky moments where I said, ‘Oh, no, here we go.’ But they got their focus back and showed some maturity, which is something that we need.”

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