C South boys basketball: Mt. Abram’s offense hitting on all cylinders

Mt. Abram’s Wyatt Sieminski snags a pass intended for Boothbay’s Lucas Hardwick during a Class C South boys basketball quarterfinal game Monday at the Augusta Civic Center. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA — The Mt. Abram boys basketball team’s offense is going into overdrive in the Class C South tournament.

The seventh-seeded Roadrunners (13-7) have been scoring in bunches and bunches this season, and haven’t let their foot off the gas pedal at all in Augusta. On Monday, they cruised to an 87-58 win over No. 15 Boothbay in the quarterfinal round. It was a major victory in program history, as it was the first quarterfinal win for Mt. Abram since beating Livermore Falls 68-56 in the Class C West tournament in 1998.

The Roadrunners have scored 80 or more points in each of their playoff games thus far, which also includes an 86-32 win over No. 10 Richmond in the prelim round. Mt. Abram scored 80-plus points on three other occasions during the regular season, and had scores in the 70s twice.

The Roadrunners, winners of nine of its last 10 games, play No. 3 Dirigo on Thursday in the semifinals.

Mt. Abram head coach Dustin Zamboni said the key to the team’s success has been the multiple scoring threats on the roster.

“What I like is our versatility,” Zamboni said. “We have other guys that can score, it’s hard to shut down one particular player.”

“Probably (all) of the starting five is all dangerous,” said senior guard Adam Luce. “They have to watch out for all of us. It definitely helps. I can have a good game, Kaden (Pillsbury) can have a good game. If they put their best player on me, I can just pass the ball off (to someone) and they can score.”

While Luce and junior guard Kaden Pillsbury have been two of Mt. Abram’s top scorers, they’re not the only scorers. In the Roadrunners’ win over Richmond, guard Cameron Frost-Gray and forward Payton Mitchell each scored 18 points.

“We’re moving the ball better and starting to shoot well,” Pillsbury said. “Everyone (on the team) can shoot and just move the ball.”

Mt. Abram sophomore Payton Mitchell tries to get through a crowd of Boothbay defenders during a Class C South quarterfinal game Monday night in Augusta. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

The trend continued on Monday. Luce led the Roadrunners with 26 points, while Pillsbury followed with 21 points and guard Wyatt Sieminski added 16 points.

“I think we work well as a team,” Pillsbury said. “We pass the ball, move it (down the floor). Everyone (getting involved in) scoring is because of good ball movement.”

The Roadrunners have no issue playing unselfish basketball, making the quick pass — and the extra pass if need be — getting the ball to the open player.

“We definitely know when someone’s having a good night, we give the ball to them,” Luce said. “We have good team chemistry.”

“Sometimes we need to tell them to be a little more selfish (with the ball), ” Zamboni said. “Not make that extra pass when they have a good route, give it up to someone that’s in traffic.”