AUGUSTA — Martha Veroneau might have thought the Augusta Civic Center was a bit of a house of horrors last year.

As a freshman, she struggled from the floor and watched her team lose here in the Western Class C championship game.

She admits it was a bit imposing and not at all helpful for her shot. The Waynflete guard ended the tournament with just 13 points in three games as the Flyers fell to Madison in the final.

Tuesday, as a sophomore, Veroneau found the confines of the ACC a little more welcoming. She scored 37 points and broke the Western C record with seven 3-pointers in an offensive display that bounced St. Dom’s from the tournament in a 69-49 quarterfinal triumph.

“Last year, my shooting was awful here,” Veroneau said. “It took some time to get used to. It’s definitely a different atmosphere here. I was lucky my shot was on today.”

Veroneau scored eight in the first quarter, 15 in the second and 11 in the third. She was told late in the game that she had tied the 3-point record set by Jay’s Ashley Woodcock in 2001. Though the Flyers were trying to milk the clock and run the game out, Veroneau was given the go-ahead for one last try at the record. She hit the shot with about a minute left.

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“When we called timeout, Coach (Brandon Salway) told me ‘Martha, you’re one away from the 3-point record. Try to get it,’ said Veroneau, who finished just eight points shy of Katie Sibley’s record for most points in a game set in 2003. “So I started to shoot more 3s.”

Veroneau went 7-for-11 from beyond the 3-point line.

“That’s not bad,” said Salway. “I’ll take that in layups most days.”

The Flyers (14-3) also received 14 points from Lydia Stegemann and 10 from Samantha Oakland.

“Everybody on our team stepped it up,” said Veroneau, whose twin sister Catherine was on the bench with a knee injury. “Everybody played an important role in today’s win. Riahannan (Jackson) had 10 rebounds for us. Liz (Lewis) was great on the boards. It was really a team effort stopping Allaina Murphy down low.”

Murphy finished with 22 before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.  Mary Caron added 10 points for the Saints (12-7).

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St. Dom’s coach Paul Rheaume was unavailable for comment following the game.

The Flyers jumped out to the early lead, hitting seven of their first 13 shots from the floor. The Saints shot 4-for-14 and were down 19-9 in the first quarter.

“The big key is to get your kids to just play,” Salway said. “The last thing you want is jitters to effect your team. When you have early success, they can just relax and play.”

Though the Flyers built the early lead, the Saints found some flow offensively as well.  St. Dom’s shot 8-for-14 in the second quarter and stayed within reach. Murphy had 18 points in the first half and  the Saints were down 40-29 at halftime.

“It was a little frustrating to have such a great day offensively but to only have a (11-point) lead at halftime,” Salway said. “We were pretty confident we could get open looks. It was a little frustrating that St. Dom’s wouldn’t go away.”

The Saints just couldn’t keep pace with Veroneau, though. The 11-point lead grew to a 58-41 lead by the start of the fourth. The only thing left to be determined was whether Veroneau would break the record. She tied it with a 3-pointer late in the third, but the Flyers had worked the ball around in the final quarter.

“I respect St. Dom’s, and I didn’t want to go for the record at the expense of them,” said Salway.

kmills@sunjournal.com


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