AUGUSTA — Hall-Dale had an answer for every Livermore Falls run in Monday night’s MVC girls’ basketball championship game at Augusta Civic Center.

Her name is Carylanne Wolfington.

The league’s southern division player of the year caused enough trouble for the Andies with her 23 points. On top of that, every crucial rebound or steal seemed to fall into her fingers at the end of the Bulldogs’ 49-41 victory.

“She’s one of those players. It seemed to happen every single time down the court,” Livermore Falls coach Mark Simpson said.

After being shut out in the second quarter and seeing Hall-Dale extend its lead, anyhow, Wolfington scored 15 in a second half that featured five ties and numerous Livermore Falls rallies.

“That’s who she is. She’s just a tremendous basketball player who makes plays,” Hall-Dale coach Brandon Terrill said. “She did just about everything you could do on a basketball court tonight.”

Wolfington’s contributions loomed even larger in light of the foul trouble that befell the other half of Hall-Dale’s one-two punch, 6-foot-1 senior Taylor Massey.

Massey sat out most of the game, including all but the final 2:15 of the fourth quarter. Four of her six points came at the free-throw line in the last 25 seconds.

Wendy Goldman scored seven of her nine points in the second quarter for the Bulldogs.

Hall-Dale (18-1) won its second straight MVC title and will enter the Western Class C tournament here next week as the No. 1 seed.

Marissa Welch led No. 3 Livermore Falls (15-4) with 16 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots. Kathryn Ventrella added 13 points.

The Andies will face MVC rival Dirigo in the quarterfinals next Tuesday.

“Kathryn hit a couple of 3-pointers, which will help us with our depth perception,” Simpson said. “This was great. I’m really happy with the way we played.”

Livermore Falls trailed by as many as eight in the first half before Ventrella’s 3-pointer provided a spark in the final two minutes. Welch’s free throw with under two seconds left made it a 21-15 margin at the break.

Welch and Ventrella combined for six unanswered points out of the locker room to tie it.

The Andies pulled even three more times in the period — at 27, 29 and 32 — before Welch scored on the first possession of the fourth quarter. That gave Livermore Falls a 34-32 lead, its first since 2-0.

“It seemed like if we just could have gotten one more basket a couple of times, it might have changed the game,” Simpson said.

Instead, Wolfington played the game-changer, repeatedly.

Her two free throws knotted it up. After baskets by Goldman and Kristen Moody, Wolfington rattled in a running left-hander off the glass for a 40-35 lead with 5:44 to go.

Next time down, she delivered again inside, making Hall-Dale 4-for-5 in the period and putting the Bulldogs in front by seven.

“The experience tonight is so valuable, because next week is going to be the same thing,” Terrill said. “You start the game and there’s a jolt of adrenaline, and then you need to pick it up again.”

Livermore Falls wasn’t finished. Sam Greenwood, Megan Therrien and Welch scored six straight points to trim the gap to one. The Andies missed two free throws that would have tied or put them ahead as Massey checked back into the game.

Kristina Buck’s putback of a Massey muss — her only two points of the night — steadied the Bulldogs.

Three consecutive missed free throws threatened to haunt Hall-Dale, but Wolfington was there for a steal, then an offensive rebound, to keep possession before Massey closed the door.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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