AUGUSTA — Nick Woods saw teammate Bruce Carver sitting on the bench, battling the effects of the same virus that had drained his energy earlier in the week, and knew he would have to pick up the slack for his sick teammate.

Woods scored a game-high 13 points and top-seeded Richmond dominated the second half to pick up its third straight Western D championship and fourth in the last five years with a 47-32 victory over No. 6 Vinalhaven Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.

The Bobcats (19-1) will face Eastern D champion Schenck for the state title next title Saturday at the ACC.

“Last game I struggled a little bit and other people stepped up,” said Woods, who was named the tournament MVP. “This game, Bruce started on the bench because he got the sickness, too. I just shot when I was open, tried to take control of the offense, tried to take control of the tempo.”

Richmond took control with an 18-2 run between the third and fourth quarters. The Bobcats’ full-court pressure held the Vikings (12-7) without a field goal for more than 12 minutes. At the other end, Richmond’s guards, Woods, Eric Murrin (seven points) and Mike Christie (nine points) began to break down Vinalhaven’s zone with dribble penetration after settling for long jumpers in the first half.

“The first half, our offense struggled because we weren’t moving them around,” Woods said. “We had to take it to the basket to get them moving around, create some lanes to drive and flash.”

“The defensive pressure and the depth of their athleticism, their ability to keep bringing fresh bodies in to keep the pressure on, was the difference,” Vinalhaven coach Matt Slivinsky said. “Some of our guys got a little bit shook by it and turned the ball over a few times and we didn’t really look to get the ball inside and establish our offense.”

Vinalhaven got the ball inside to Nate Hopkins (10 points, nine rebounds) for back-to-back hoops for a 20-17 lead early in the third quarter, but that would be the Vikings’ last field goals until 1:37 remained in the game. Carver sparked Richmond’s run with a hoop, then Tom Carter (nine points, nine rebounds) put the Bobcats ahead to stay with a hoop that made it 21-20. Murrin added a 3-pointer and Christie a lefty runner to open the six-point lead they carried into the fourth quarter.

Back-to-back hoops by Woods, the second a nice lefty reverse flip shot, widened the margin to 10 early in the fouith. Vinalhaven didn’t score until midway through the quarter, then went more than 2 1/2 minutes without another point as the Richmond lead approached 20.

All of the Bobcats but Woods struggled against the Vikings’ zone early on. The Vikings, meanwhile, were finding wide open cutters through the lane, taking a 10-5 lead on Hopkins’ first hoop of the game. Woods’ jumper beat the buzzer to pull them within 10-7.

Vinalhaven went the final four minutes of the first half without a field goal, allowing Richmond to trim the deficit to one at halftime.

“We talked about taking not so many chances (on defense),” Richmond coach Phil Houdlette said. “The first half, they’d get the ball to the wing and we’d be watching the ball and they’d just cut through and they’d give it back to (the cutter) to lay it back in. We told them to stay with their man and communicate a little bit better so we got through screens (and) stop them from penetrating.”