AUGUSTA — The Old Orchard Beach girls basketball team was more than just happy to make the Western Maine Class C quarterfinals.

The Seagulls, with a roster that includes five juniors, two sophomores and four freshmen who get regular playing time, came within a quarter of defeating the No. 4 ranked team in the conference Tuesday night. Traip Academy, however, escaped the Augusta Civic Center with the 56-49 win.

The No. 5 Gulls end their season with a record of 11-8.

“The staff came up with a pretty good game plan, and the players just executed it to a ”˜T’,” Old Orchard Beach head coach Dean Plante said. “Really, the improvement from day one until now has just been phenomenal.”

“(Old Orchard Beach) gave everything that they’ve got,” Rangers head coach Paul Marquis said. “They had a week to prepare, and they’re a well coached team. Dean does a great with them. They played a tough game.”

Old Orchard Beach had a 39-38 lead at the end of the third quarter, but ultimately the Gulls’ playoff inexperience bit them, as the Rangers went on runs of 7-0 and 9-3 in the fourth quarter. The Rangers also ran a 1-3-1 trap in the fourth quarter and forced seven turnovers, sealing the win.

“We want to win with our defense, and that wasn’t the case today,” Marquis said. “Old Orchard created a lot of opportunities for themselves. They scored (49) points, that’s a lot for us to give up. But we tried to mix it up and with a young team like they have, if you show them an odd front, an even front, hopefully it wares on them after a while.”

Even though she finished the game with a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds), Old Orchard Beach neutralized Traip forward Selena Lorrey better than it had in the last regular season contest, a 57-31 loss, where Lorrey scored 23 points. But with more defensive focus centered on Lorrey, it opened up shots for guard Alli Barrett. She took advantage, hitting her first four 3-pointers, and finished the game with a game-high 21 points.

“That was part of our gameplan, to have somebody else score against us,” Plante said. “She made some shots in the first half and kept them in it. If she didn’t hit those, we may have a double-digit lead, so all the credit in the world goes to her.”

Action was back and forth in the first half. Traip ended the first quarter with a 14-12 lead. But the Gulls stayed in the game by going 10 of 14 at the free-throw line in the first half. Old Orchard Beach took the lead back on a 3-pointer by Kelsey Custeau and entered the locker room at halftime with a 27-24 lead.

The Gulls continued to keep the Rangers at bay in the third, before Traip took over with its 7-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter.

Christina Colman led Old Orchard Beach offensively with 12 points, while Haley Plante added 10 points.

It’s the third game this season that the two schools faced off against each other, with Traip winning each game. It was the Rangers who bounced the Gulls out of their last playoff appearance two years ago in the preliminary round.

Old Orchard Beach loses only one senior in center Alicia St. Michel, making the Gulls a favorite to make it back to the quarterfinals and beyond next season.

“A lot of people thought we’d be happy just getting here, but we came to compete,” Dean Plante said. “I told them coming in, there’s no guarantee we’re coming back. You lose a great kid in Alicia St. Michel, but our nucleus is coming back and we are going to be a year stronger. They love the sport, so they’re only going to work hard. I certainly wanted this one, but the more games up here, the better.”

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535, Ext. 323.