AUGUSTA

Forward Diamond Brown was in street clothes, and forward Jailene Martinez spent the majority of the game in foul trouble, presenting the Hyde School girls basketball team with a big height obstacle against sixth-seeded Valley on Monday in the Western Maine Class D quarterfinals at the Augusta Civic Center.

For a team that went winless last year, the third-seeded Phoenix showed how well they have adapted to such problems, shaking off the size issue en route to a 48-28 victory and advancing to Thursday’s Western D semifinal against No. 2 Richmond

(10 a.m.).

Hyde (17-1) owned the boards, outrebounding Valley (5-14) 35-24, including a huge 24-8 edge on the offensive glass resulting in 32 second, and even third-chance points.

The senior one-two punch of Kara Fischer and Katie Comeaux led the Phoenix. Fischer had a game-high 19 points, 13 steals and six assists, while Comeaux chipped in 14 points, 13 rebounds and six steals.

“Katie and I have played three seasons together now, and we are just able to communicate without even talking,” said Fischer of her senior connection with Comeaux. “The key to our defense is communication and going out and being in the right place at the right time. We have a really deep bench, and our players have really stepped up.”

“It was disappointing to be without Diamond due to injury, but we have said it all year long that the key to this team is that the 11th, 10th players can win the game for us just like the starters,” said Hyde coach Richard Polgar. “We came up with a plan, with the key to pressure Valley’s perimeter. We play a 3-2 defense, which requires our guards to get down on the off-side, and Katie Comeaux did a fantastic job of hitting the boards hard.”

Hyde takes control

Tied 6-6 midway through the first quarter, the Phoenix used an 8-0 run for a 14-6 lead after a quarter. Fischer scored four points during the run, and hooked up with Comeaux and Allie Helfrich for a bucket each.

Valley’s Sydney Vincent nailed a 3-pointer early in the second quarter, and a 6-0 Cavaliers run, highlighted by four points from Teagan Laweryson, made for a 19-15 contest with 5:22 left until halftime.

Hyde took control from there, reeling off an 8-0 run to end the half as Fischer finished with nine points and Comeaux eight points, nine rebounds (eight on the offensive glass) and three steals.

“I came to breakfast this morning, saw Katie and Kara together and just knew they were ready to go to war,” said Polgar of his two standout seniors.

Valley shot 27 percent (six of 22) in the half, and Hyde held a 21-13 rebounding edge despite Martinez picking up her third foul early in the second quarter.

Hyde continued to frustrate the Cavaliers, who made just three of 18 shots in the second half, two of them 3-pointers by Laweryson. The Phoenix used an 8-0 run for a 35-17 lead, and closed the quarter with a 5- 0 spurt for a 40-20 lead after 24 minutes.

“Defense wins championships, and as long as we keep playing good defense we will be fine,” said Polgar.

Hyde finished 21 of 66 from the floor (31 percent) and went six of 14 at the foul line. Martinez chipped in five points in limited action before fouling out, while Chloe Blaylock added four points and nine rebounds.

“It’s amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better senior season to come back from the knee injury. This has been a dream come true for me,” said Fischer, who watched from the bench last season as her Phoenix lost twice to Richmond. “Against Richmond, we have to play our game and not them get to our heads. We have to crash the boards. That is the key.”

Valley received 15 points from Laweryson, with Vincent adding eight. The Cavaliers were seven of 14 at the charity stripe and shot 22 percent (nine of 40) from the field.

Hyde 48, Valley 28

Western Maine Class D quarterfinals
At the Augusta Civic Center
Valley— 6958—28
Hyde — 14 13 13 8 — 48
No. 6 Valley — Meaghan Hannewell 0-2-2, Teagan
Laweryson 6-1-15, Kimberly Bergeron 0-1-1, Kirsten
Mathieu 0-0-0, Sydney Vincent 2-3-8, Kyla White 1-
0-2, Jaclyn Beatrice 0-0-0, Jordan Belanger 0-0-0,
Courtney Mills 0-0-0, Dalayne Davis 0-0-0, Amanda
Landry 0-0-0, Charlie Savoy 0-0-0, Kelly Bigelow 0-
0-0, Meghan Medlin 0-0-0. Totals — 9-7-26.
No. 3 Hyde — Jailene Martinez 2-1-5, Katie
Comeaux 6-2-14, Shannon Ward 1-0-2, Kara Fischer
8-3-19, Chloe Blaylock 2-0-4, Carolyn Moore 1-0-2,
Allie Helfrich 1-0-2, Emma Leonard 0-0-0, Cailin Darling 0-0-0, Lutes Bartlett 0-0-0. Totals — 21-6-48.
3-point field goals — (V) Laweryson 2, Vincent.
Records — Hyde 17-1, Valley 5-14.
Next for the Phoenix — Thursday against No. 2
Richmond in the Western D semifinals at the Augusta Civic Center, 10 a.m.