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DIXFIELD — Dirigo’s Madisyn Bradeen admitted she was in a shooting rut heading into a Class C South girls basketball preliminary-round game Tuesday against Traip Academy.

But the sophomore’s shooting in the second quarter helped spark a run the propelled the seventh-seeded Cougars to a 56-38 victory over the No. 10 Rangers.

“My shooting has been off — it was really good at the beginning of the season, and then it’s been off,” Bradeen said. “So it felt really nice to hit a couple of 3-pointers, get us up, get us the lead. Every 3-pointer we hit brings up the team morale, we get super excited, we want to play, we want to be here — just really big 3-pointers that we hit tonight.”

The Cougars (10-9) advance to face second-seeded Maranacook (15-3) at 5:30 p.m. next Tuesday at the Augusta Civic Center.

Bradeen finished with 13 points and was one of four Dirigo players to score in double figures. Emma Witas and Sophia Nino-Aguirre each recorded 14 points, while Abby Luczynski chipped in 11.

The Cougars entered the second quarter trailing 8-6, but Bradeen hit a pair of 3-pointers and Nino-Aguirre made a free throw to put Dirigo on top, 13-8. The Cougars outscored the Rangers 18-3 in the second to take a 24-11 lead into halftime.

Witas, also a sophomore, scored six of her 14 points in the quarter.

“She got some good baskets,” Dirigo coach Randy Parenteau said of Witas. “She was looking to score tonight, and she was looking inside. She was moving without the ball. She did a really great job.”

Traip (6-13) had its moments in spurts, including Rorie Ford knocking down two 3-pointers in the first quarter and a 7-0 run to start the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 24-18. But that was the closest the Rangers got in the second half.

Ford was the lone Traip player in double digits, finishing with 11 points.

“We’ve kind of ridden waves of confidence all year long,” Traip coach Mark McKenney said. “We like to go on runs, and then I think it kind of creates a little bit of an intensity, a high, and then we come down a little bit. But they always compete, they always play hard, they never give up, so very proud of them.”

Back to Augusta

Last year, Dirigo snapped a 10-year drought by making it to the Augusta Civic Center, where they reached the Class C South semifinals.

“The energy is more, there’s just more of everything, it’s just super energetic, and it’s just really special to get there again,” Bradeen said.

This year’s squad is underclassmen-heavy, with only one junior and three seniors on the roster. Witas said she and the other players from last year’s team have told the newer players to focus on the basics when they play in Augusta.

“We tell them to keep their heads up, focus on the little things, and just play defense,” Witas said.