OLD ORCHARD BEACH — When Dean Plante says he has a lot of faith in the young players on his Old Orchard Beach High girls’ basketball team, he isn’t kidding.

Three freshmen – guards Mackenzie Rague and Haley Plante, and forward Abby Dubois – played huge roles Tuesday night as the fifth-ranked Seagulls held off No.12 Monmouth 51-49 in a Western Class C preliminary-round playoff game.

Plante led Old Orchard with 15 points, hitting five 3-pointers; Rague directed the offense at point guard and hit a foul shot with 17.9 seconds left to give the Seagulls a seven-point lead; and Dubois scored seven of her nine points in the final quarter.

“I was pleased with our composure from start to finish,” said Plante. “Now we get a chance to run on the big floor against a familiar opponent.”

Old Orchard (12-7) will play Western Maine Conference rival Traip Academy at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the quarterfinals at the Augusta Civic Center. Traip, ranked fourth, beat Old Orchard twice in the regular season.

This was a tight game throughout. The Seagulls held a one-point lead after one and the game was tied at 25 at the half.

But Old Orchard scored the first four points of the third quarter on baskets by Anna Foss and Rague, and never trailed again.

A key factor was Plante’s decision to switch from a man-to-man defense to a 3-2 zone. That allowed his defenders to collapse on Kristine Kahl of Monmouth (8-11), a gifted inside player.

She ended with 12 points but only four in the second half.

“That’s nothing new,” said Monmouth Coach Scott Wing. “People have done that to her all year. And when that happens, it makes it tough for us to score.”

Monmouth, he said, likes to keep the score in the 30s, low 40s at highest. “If it gets any higher, we’re usually in trouble,” he said.

Sophomore Kelsey Custeau hit a couple of 3-pointers in the third quarter – the undersized Seagulls hit nine in the game – to help Old Orchard to a 39-33 lead after three quarters.

Dubois (nine rebounds) provided much of the Seagulls’ offense in the fourth, splitting Monmouth’s defense to get crucial layups. And when Plante hit her fifth 3-pointer of the game with 3:27 left, Old Orchard had a 46-35 lead.

But Monmouth kept rallying. Melissa Brassard (14 points) had five points in a 7-2 run. And when a basket by Molly Menice with six seconds remaining was ruled a 3-pointer – despite her being two feet inside the arc – the Mustangs were within 51-49.

But they couldn’t complete the comeback.

Asked if they were nervous when Monmouth started coming back, Old Orchard’s young guards – Rague and Plante – shook their heads.

“We just knew we had to play our game.” said Plante. “We couldn’t freak out over something like that.”

Added Rague, “Maybe I was nervous when the game started. There was a lot of pressure on us. But after the second quarter I just got into the flow of the game.”

Christina Colman added 12 points for Old Orchard, including a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter.

“We came in with a game plan to play a zone because we knew they had a couple of shooters,” said Wing. “It became tough to defend when they started putting two shooters on the same side. Give them credit. They shot the ball well, which is what they had to do.”

Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at: mlowe@pressherald.com

Twitter: MikeLowePPH