The largest contingent of fans on hand Saturday at the Cumberland County Civic Center came to Portland to cheer for the girls of Lake Region High School.

They were not disappointed.

In the kick off to a postseason of high expectations, the Lakers (19-0) got off to a 13-0 start against Yarmouth (9-10) – the team that had eliminated the Naples school in each of the past two years – and went on to pound the Clippers, 60-34, in a Class B west regional quarterfinal.

“They came out just the way we didn’t want them to. They hit a bunch of outside shots,” said Yarmouth coach John Martin. “I was hoping the background would bother them, but it didn’t seem to faze them a bit.”

Lake Region’s Samantha Allen (20 points) and Kim Rivet (12 points) came out firing while their opponents struggled to even get a shot off against the stifling defense of the unbeaten top seed.

The Clippers finally got on the scoreboard with 1:43 left in the first quarter and actually closed out the period with a 7-2 run.

For a few moments it looked like Yarmouth, who had just one starter back from last year’s west champs, might make the evening interesting, but a the Lakers went on a 20-4 run to start the second.

The surge, which included two jumpers from Allen and a pair of inside hoops from Courtney McClean (eight points), ended with a lay-up from Kate Callahan (seven points) on a sweet drive and dish from Allen.

The Clippers were able to bring the margin under 20 just once before halftime, and in the third quarter Allen hit for seven points in a row to help push the lead to as many as 31.

“We came out offensively and made a few hoops, which got us where we wanted to be defensively,” said Lake Region coach Paul True. “That caused some problems for them.”

When the shots fell, True’s crew instantly converted to a full-court press that can squeeze blood from a stone.

“We’re going to play baseline to baseline, and we’re going to bring pressure for the whole game,” the coach said. “In order for teams to beat us, they’re going to have to take care of the basketball.”

Yarmouth, with 15 first-half turnovers, couldn’t get into any kind of flow on offense. Meredith Baker, the team’s 6-foot-2 center, was frequently at the top of the key, where she was no threat. When she did get the ball in the low post, Shaw (11 points) was immediately surrounded by white jerseys.

“Their defense is tough, and they stay patient on offense,” said Martin. “I don’t see anyone beating them here.”

At press time, the Lakers were scheduled to meet Fryeburg Academy (15-4) in the regional semifinals Thursday. Having beaten the Raiders last week by 20 and in December by 29, it seems likely that Lake Region will play in the regional final tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 25) at 2:00 p.m.

The opponent in that game would be either York (15-3) or Gray-New Gloucester (10-8). Both were handled easily on two occasions by the Lakers. Still, the girls know that it would be a mistake to look ahead.

“The community is ‘states, states, states,’ and talking about the last time we won a Gold Ball,” said ZZ Leighton. “The pressure is there, but as coach says we’re just looking to Thursday. That’s where we are.”

The Lakers say that they are focused and ready to do what it takes.

“We want to win it for each other,” Allen said. “I want to take one game at a time and win every one so I can keep playing with these girls as much as possible.”