AUGUSTA

Nothing went right for the Richmond High School boys basketball team in the first half on Monday in its Class C South quarterfinal against No. 4 Dirigo at the Augusta Civic Center.

The Bobcats scored just 15 points, made 4-of-30 from the field and trailed the Cougars 24-15 at the break.

Then came the second half, where Richmond reeled off a 21-1 run, held off a Dirigo fourth-quarter rally, and pulled away for a 64-51 victory.

The fifth-seeded Bobcats (14-5) will face top-seeded Hall-Dale (18-1) on Thursday in the C South semifinals at 8:30 p.m. at the Civic Center, while Dirigo saw its season come to an end at 12-7. The Bulldogs defeated Traip Academy, 68-58, in Monday’s game.

The turnaround resulted from two key moves by Richmond. First, the Bobcats began driving the lane, passing on outside shots for layups.

Second, several unheralded players stepped up big.

Leading scorer Zach Small had 15 points, but made just two field goals, while Matt Rines had eight points before fouling out early in the fourth quarter. In this win, freshman Calob Densmore had 18 points, 15 in the second half, while Dan Stewart scored all 13 of his points after intermission and grabbed 10 rebounds. Nate Kendrick chipped in six points, while Kenny Bing and Nick Ridenour provided solid play off the bench.

“We talked about other people stepping up, not watching Zach and Matt run around,” said Richmond coach Phil Houdlette. “At this level, it’s going to take more than two guys to get it done. We need a lot from Matt and Zach, obviously we do, but somebody now and then needs to step up and tonight they did.

“A player like Dan Stewart gets 15-20 rebounds every game, and sometimes that goes unnoticed. We had to have others step up and those guys did that.”

“This was a big ‘team’ win for us, where everybody, Calob, Nick, Nate, Kenny stepped up and did something to help us tonight. This is big for us,” agreed Stewart.

First-half struggles

There was little to write home about in the first 16 minutes for Richmond. Tied 9-9, Dirigo’s Luke Lueders hit a 3-pointer at the first-quarter horn for a 12-9 Cougars lead.

The second quarter was a nightmare for the Bobcats, who made just 1-of-17 field-goal attempts, settling for the outside shot instead of driving to the basket.

On the other side, Dirigo received five points from Jeremy St. Germain and made 6-of-9 from the free-throw line for a 24-15 halftime lead.

“We knew that they had played a perfect half, and we just had to keep plugging away,” said Stewart, who left briefly in the first half after cutting his elbow.

Dirigo grabbed a 26-15 lead on a putback by Alex Gorham to begin the second half.

But Richmond found its game, reeling off 21 of the next 22 points. Densmore had the hot hand, hitting a 3- pointer and scoring seven points in the third, while Rines added six points, and Kendrick and Small four each.

“We distributed the ball really well in the second half and got a lot of rebounds,” said Houdlette, whose Bobcats put up 23 points in the third quarter for a 38-32 lead heading to the fourth.

Richmond was in charge early in the fourth, with Densmore receiving a pass from Small before draining a trey for a 46-34 advantage.

Dirigo had one more push left, using a 9-0 spurt to draw to 46-43 with 4:28 remaining. Chase Clark had the hot hand for the Cougars, scoring five points during the run, including a 3-pointer to pull Dirigo within three.

With Rines on the bench with five fouls, Stewart and Densmore carried the Bobcats inside. The duo combined for 19 fourth-quarter points, with Small adding six free throws to complete the 64-51 victory and a trip to the semifinals.

“When we started screening the top guy, we were able to get around the corner, and that is where that weak-side forward came open. They shared the basketball and we showed that several players are capable of scoring,” said Houdlette after watching his squad make 16-of-28 field goals (57 percent) in the second half and 19-of-24 free throws in the game.

Densmore added nine rebounds and three assists in the win, while Small picked up 12 boards and two assists. Stewart’s 10 caroms helped the Bobcats out-rebound the Cougars, 41-29. Bing chipped in five rebounds and four big points off the bench.

Dirigo’s scoring was balanced, with Cooper Chaisson picking up 12 points, followed by St. Germain and Gorham with 11 points each, and Lueders with 10. Chaisson pulled down 13 rebounds, while Gorham had three steals and three assists.