AUGUSTA — Jacob Hickey and Winthrop spent the entire MVC boys’ basketball season dealing with diamond-and-one, box-and-one, triple-team-against-one and any other gadget-defense-versus-one an opposing team and its coach dared to unleash.

Knowing that Class C South quarterfinal foe Old Orchard Beach prefers to hang its hat on a 1-3-1 zone, no matter the opponent, the Ramblers admittedly licked their chops a little.

“I was looking forward to it, to be honest with you, because we’ve seen so much stuff that it’s probably good for Jake to play basketball with some space rather than have someone in his face all the time,” Winthrop coach Todd MacArthur said.

Hickey, the junior with the catch-and-shoot conscience, attacked from 2-point, 3-point and free-throw territory with equal aplomb on Monday afternoon. He finished with 33 points, six rebounds and five steals and powered No. 2 Winthrop to a 74-47 win at Augusta Civic Center.

Garrett Tsouprake supplied 12 points for Winthrop, which will battle No. 6 Boothbay at 7 p.m. Thursday in the semifinals. The teams split two close verdicts in their home-and-home series this winter.

“I think we did a good job in practice preparing for the 1-3-1, and attacking the seams in the zone really helped us out,” Hickey said. “My teammates did a great job getting me open. They set great screens for me.”

Sophomore Ian Regan scored 16 points to lead No. 7 OOB (14-6) of the WMC.

Winthrop trailed 7-4 before landing the lead for good on consecutive baskets by Andrew Pazdziorko, Spencer Steele and Hickey.

Hickey hit a deep 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the first quarter to make it a 17-11 advantage. He drained two more in the second period, the latter increasing Winthrop’s lead to double digits for the first time with 4:08 to go.

“Spencer and Nate (Scott) both did a great job attacking the hoop, and that opened up lanes for me to shoot,” Hickey said “It also opened up lanes for our bigs to get open layups.”

With lone senior starter Anthony Owens seated due to two early fouls, Tsouprake and 6-foot-7 freshman Cam Wood combined for nine points in the final 3:22 of the half, inflating the lead to 38-24.

Regan’s third-quarter eruption of 11 points, all but two from long range, nudged the Seagulls within nine, 48-39, late in the third. Four Winthrop turnovers in the period also helped the cause.

Winthrop worked the ball inside to Owens for an uncontested layup to restore normalcy. Tsouprake added two free throws.

“We have plays to get layups, and we executed them in the second half,” Tsouprake said. “They like to drive and pull up with jump stops. Those are hard to stop, but we did a pretty good job rebounding.”

Aside from Regan, Winthrop held OOB’s other four starters — Erik Hogan, Evan Christensen, Zach Hirst and Sam Custeau — to seven points in the second half.

Hickey hit 11 free throws in the fourth quarter to put it away. He was 15-for-15 and had one for a chance to tie a 45-year-old Class C single-game record with 2:36 remaining, just before the Ramblers’ regulars were removed from the game.

It rolled around the rim and bounced away.

“That’s always a nice sign to see him make so many plays and get to the foul line and get going,” MacArthur said. “Collectively, this was what we want. We had kids step up tonight that we know they can play. Garrett Tsouprake stepped up tonight. We challenged him and boy, did he respond.”

Owens is the lone returning starter from a Winthrop team that reached the regional semifinals a year ago. Hickey was sixth man.

“We’re a young team,” Hickey said. “I think that really helps us, getting experience on the court.”

Steele dished out seven assists. Tsouprake added four steals. Owens (seven points) and Bennett Brooks (six) supplemented Hickey in the scoring column.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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