The goal was to stop Sanford’s top player, Kayla Parker, and for the most part, the Bonny Eagle girls basketball team did that. The Scots held Parker to 11 points in Tuesday’s Western Class A quarterfinal game at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Unfortunately for the Scots, the plan backfired – you don’t earn the No. 1 seed in the tournament by relying on just one player. So even though Parker was well below her season average, Sanford managed just fine.

Five other players scored at least five points as Sanford won, 54-31, and advanced to play Deering in the semifinals.

“We really tried to make them knock down perimeter jump shots and they did a great job with that,” said Bonny Eagle coach Marc Sawyer, whose team rallied to upset Kennebunk in the preliminary round. “But the difference between the team that’s been here and had the experience that they have is that they break down a lot less than teams like ourselves. They didn’t break down nearly as much as, of course, we did.”

Bonny Eagle’s first breakdown came at the beginning of the second quarter. The Scots trailed 13-9 when the period began, but were down 21-12 three minutes in.

Beth Fredette, who was playing with a torn meniscus, knocked down a pair of free throws to get things started. Karyn Plante followed with a three pointer, and Ashley Jean hit another to extend the lead. Later on in the quarter, Jean and Colleen Kumka each knocked down a three to put Sanford up by 13.

“We got off to a great start,” said Sawyer. “We had a great chance, but in the first half I thought there were just two two-minute spurts (that hurt us).”

In the third, it was an eight-minute spurt. The Scots began the quarter down by 11 and ended it down by 22; their only points came from a Meghan Ledoux three-pointer with 6:39 to go.

“We changed it up defensively a little bit to the run and jump,” said Sanford coach Kristy Parent. “We just felt if we pressured them they would make mistakes. And I think we got some turnovers off it, ran the floor well and finally got some ball movement on our offense.”

Sawyer tried to pace his players in the first half, but things spiraled out of control in the second.

“It’s like a prize fight. If you get in and start swapping punches with the champion you’re going to be in some trouble,” he said. “You’ve got to pick your spots and look to still be aggressive, look to use some of the clock and use some of the floor. I thought when we went in and picked our spots we just weren’t able to go and land that knockout.”

And Sanford’s size advantage didn’t help matters either. The Scots got out-rebounded 29-6 to in the game. When Ledoux (14 points) and Kellsey Howe (seven points) got open looks at the basket and the shots didn’t fall, Sanford’s Parker (6-foot), Fredette (5-foot-8) and Ruth Briggs (5-foot-11) were cleaning up the scraps down low.

“There’s a reason why they only lost once,” said Sawyer, in his first year as Bonny Eagle’s head coach.

The No. 9-seeded Scots finished the season with a record of 10-9. They’ll graduate three seniors: Jess Nassetta, Kelly Johnson and Heather Townsend.