Girls basketball: Winthrop ousts Old Orchard Beach in C South prelim

WINTHROP — Winthrop got some revenge on Old Orchard Beach on Tuesday.

After being knocked out of the playoffs the past two seasons by the Seagulls, the Ramblers ousted the defending state champions with a 43-29 victory in a Class C South girls basketball preliminary-round game.

“I am so happy. Every year we play them and we lose to them,” Winthrop’s Haley Williams said. “I am so happy, as a captain and a senior this year, to finally beat them and go to the (Augusta) Civic Center for my last year of basketball — it’s very exciting.”

Tuesday was also the second time seventh-seeded Winthrop (13-6) and No. 10 Old Orchard Beach (7-12) met this season. The Ramblers won the regular-season matchu 44-41 before Christmas.

“We learned they are very good shooters, and we learned we had to have very good defense on them,” Williams said.

Winthrop coach John Baehr said the Ramblers nailed the game plan Tuesday: “Just to play really good defense and hold them to under 30 points,” he said.

Offensively, Winthrop shared the ball, with Williams and Ella Rice each scoring nine points and Maddie Wagner dropping seven in the win.

Cate Clark led the Seagulls with nine points and Sarah Davis had seven.

Both teams struggled from the field early. The Ramblers jumped out to an early lead by taking advantage of Seagulls turnovers and grabbing rebounds on both ends of the court.

Winthrop started the game on a 9-0 run. Madeline Wagner scored four of the nine points, while Kylee Mansir hit a 3-pointer and Williams had a bucket.

“We are at our best when we speed teams up,” Baehr said. “Get out and run, shoot the ball with consistency, and get offensive rebounds.”

Old Orchard Beach finally got on the board with 1:54 remaining in the first quarter when Cate Clark hit a 3. Tessa Ferguson also landed a shot beyond the arch to cut the deficit to 9-6.

“I have a couple of electric offensive players, and that’s how we can score,” Old Orchard Beach coach Torey Carr said. “We can get back in the game with Sarah and Tessa. Megan (Dow) shot the ball well tonight too. We can score in spurts.”

Two free throws from Ella Rice gave the Ramblers an 11-6 advantage after one quarter.

“One thing coach Baehr was really preaching was we needed to come out with a ton of energy, because they usually come out with energy,” Rice said. “We haven’t the past couple of games, and that’s what we needed to do in order to beat this team.”

Mansir, Rice, Wagner and Brynn Stubbert helped Winthrop build a 22-10 lead in the second quarter.

“They have quality players,” Carr said. “Ella Rice is one of the best point guards in the Mountain Valley Conference, for sure. They have a great supporting cast with Madeline Wagner; the freshman, Mansir, is a tough player and they have other tough players to go around them, too.”

Old Orchard Beach made a little run at the end of the second when Clark made two free throws and Sarah Davis hit a buzzer beater that cut Winthrop’s lead to 22-15 at the half.

The Seagulls first-half scoring came from three 3-pointers and 6-for-6 shooting at the free-throw line.

They hit their first 2-point field goal of the game on their first shot of the third quarter. After Winthrop got a basket back, Ferguson hit a 3-pointer before Clark added a free throw to get Old Orchard within 24-21.

“I think at the beginning of the game, some of my younger players — who I ask a lot of, there no question about it — we are on the road, it’s a playoff game, it took a little while to adapt,” Carr said. “I was super proud of how we settled in after that point. I think we cut it to three early on in the second half, and we were right there. They extended it at the end with some foul shots, but I was happy with our fight.”

Winthrop built its lead back up with an 11-0 run before Megan Dow hit a 3 for the Seagulls. Stubbert finished the third with a bucket and a free throw for a 38-24 Ramblers advantage.

The Seagulls opened the fourth quarter with a bucket from Davina Kita and Dow hit another 3 to get the Seagulls within 38-29. The score remained that way for most of the quarter until Old Orchard started to foul and the Ramblers hit their free throws. Winthrop’s Caroline Corgan made a layup to end the scoring.

“We definitely made it interesting at the end, but we knocked down shots when we had to,” Baehr said. “We stuck to a game plan and executed it.”