It has not occurred often during the past few years that Richmond High School senior standout Jamie Plummer was tied up the way she was in Thursday’s Western Maine Class D girls semifinal at the Augusta Civic Center.
Hyde’s Katie Comeaux blanketed the Bobcats’ star, holding her to just one field goal, four points in all.
It was up to Plummer’s supporting cast to carry Richmond into another Western D championship game on Saturday, and the likes of battle-tested Alyssa Pearson, Ciarra Lancaster, Noell Acord and Brianna Snedeker led the way in a 43-36 Bobcats victory over the game Phoenix, the No. 3 seed.
Against Hyde, Pearson scored all of her game-high 11 points in the second half, while Lancaster chipped in nine, Snedeker seven and Acord four points, four assists and three steals. Plummer led the way in rebounds (10), blocked shots (five) and steals (five), but every opportunity she had to go to the basket, the Phoenix stood in the way.
“Not having our typical attack at the basket, the other girls had to take the opportunity to step in,” said Richmond coach Molly Bishop. “They know they are capable. It is not always easy for us to look elsewhere away from Plummer. We settled in and did what we needed to do.”
“We played a diamond and one, and I had Plummer one-on-one,” said the senior Comeaux. “I just had to make sure that I boxed out every time a shot went up. She is such a good player. I am so proud of this team for coming together like this. I wish Richmond luck, but my team did a great job today.”
“My goal was to keep her under 15 and force the rest of the team to beat us, and Pearson beat us in the second half,” said Hyde coach Richard Polgar, whose Phoenix finished 17-2 one season after going winless and losing twice to the Bobcats (58-7 and 51-6). “Katie Comeaux is the perfect person to play a diamond and one. Jamie Plummer may be the best player in the tournament and Katie slowed her down.”
Hyde was hurt by 33 turnovers, 21 coming in the first half, allowing Richmond to overcome an 11-7 firstquarter deficit for an 18-16 lead at the half.
Plummer’s only field goal came with nine seconds remaining until halftime and gave Richmond the two-point edge.
A strong start to the second half by the Bobcats made for the game’s biggest deficit, a 31-18 Richmond lead as Pearson got hot, scoring five points. A three-point play by Kelsea Anair completed the second-half opening 13-2 run.
“In practice we worked a lot thinking that Jamie would get doubleteamed, and me and Ciarra would have to step up, and today we did a lot of posting and screening,” said Pearson. “When everyone focuses on Jamie, it leaves us wide-open in the middle.
“This shows that we all work together. Jamie is great and our leading scorer, but everyone else on this team contributes. Today, she didn’t put up the points, so we did it for her.”
Hyde comes back
The Phoenix answered Richmond’s third-quarter spurt with one of their own, an 8-1 run to close the frame and bring Hyde to 32-26.
“We knew Richmond would make some runs, but we stayed the course and executed the gameplan,” said Polgar.
Two points each by Kara Fischer and Chloe Blaylock brought the Phoenix to 38-34 with 3:56 remaining, but turnovers on back-to-back possessions and a pair of free throws by Lancaster gave Richmond a 40-34 advantage. Diamond Brown, who missed Monday’s quarterfinal win against Valley with an injury, put home a shot to get Hyde to four again, but Acord drained a pair of free throws and Plummer hit one of two to complete the 43-36 Richmond victory.
Bishop was pleased with her Bobcats, who will look to advance to a third consecutive Class D state title game on Saturday. Richmond defeated Rangeley in the Western D final last year, 46-35.
“I am pleased with the whole group,” said Bishop. “Jamie would be the first one to tell everyone that without those players around her, she is not able to score 35 points.”
“Richmond is a great team, wellcoached, and did what it needed to do to get the job done,” said Polgar. “We wanted to play the best, and we did today.”
Richmond shot 22 percent (14 of 63) and made 13 of 19 at the foul line. Snedeker had seven rebounds and three steals, while Pearson pulled down nine boards.
For Hyde, Brown had nine points, Fischer eight and Blaylock six. Fischer dished out four assists and picked up five steals, while Brown grabbed eight caroms.
The Phoenix were 12 of 47 (25 percent) from the floor and 10 of 11 at the charity stripe.
| Western | Maine | Class | D | Girls | Semifinals | |||
| At the | Augusta | Civic | Center | |||||
| Hyde — | 11 | 5 | 10 | 10 | — | 36 | ||
| Richmond | — 7 | 11 | 14 | 11 | — | 43 | ||
No. 3 Hyde — Jailene Martinez 2-0-4, Katie Comeaux 2-0-5, Carolyn Moore 1-0-2, Chloe Blaylock 1-4-6, Kara Fischer 3-1-8, Diamond Brown 2-5- 9, Shannon Ward 1-0-2. Totals — 12-10-36. No. 2 Richmond — Ciarra Lancaster 2-5-9, Jamie Plummer 1-2-4, Payton Johnson 1-0-3, Noell Acord 1-2-4, Brianna Snedeker 2-2-7, Alyssa Pearson 5-1- 11, Haley Murphy 1-0-2, Emily Leavitt 0-0-0, Kelsea Anair 1-1-3, Kalah Patterson 0-0-0. Totals — 14-13- 43. 3-point field goals — (H) Comeaux, Fischer; (R) Johnson, Snedeker. Records — Richmond 16-3, Hyde 17-2. Next — The Bobcats take on No. 1 Rangeley on Saturday in the Western D final at 1:05 p.m. at the Augusta Civic Center. Hyde’s season is completed.
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