AUGUSTA

There aren’t many secrets when it comes to the Richmond High School girls basketball team.

The Bobcats are going to press all-out on defense and feed Sydney Underhill- Tilton down low. So far, no one’s been able to stop it.

Gould Academy is the latest team to struggle with the game plan, as Richmond built an early lead and cruised to a 39-22 victory in a Class C South quarterfinal Tuesday at the Augusta Civic Center.

“We preach it’s not who we play it’s how we play,” Richmond coach Mike Ladner said.

“We started off good. That was our main objective,” Underhill-Tilton said. “We came here and watched games the other day and a lot of those games, they came out strong. That set them aside from their opponent. You come out slow and you’re playing catch-up the whole rest of the game. The game before, the OOB-Madison game (45-41 win for OOB), we didn’t want it that tight. We said that. Our main goal was to start hard, finish strong.”

Defensively, the start of the game went about as well as No. 1 Richmond (19-0) might have hoped. The Bobcats turned on the full-court press from the get-go and forced multiple turnovers before No. 8 Gould Academy (8-2) even had a chance to dribble past mid-court.

Some nerves were evident in the first eight minutes and a handful of traveling calls didn’t help the cause. Richmond forced 21 first-half turnovers and held the Huskies scoreless until the 1:53 mark in the first.

“I just think the pressure,” Ladner said of what was causing the turnovers. “The full-court pressure, trying to trap, double-teams. Forcing them into stuff they’re not used to doing.”

“Meranda (Martin), Caity (Caitlin Kendrick) and Kenz (Mackenzie Abbott) came through. They always do up front,” Underhill-Tilton said. “Meranda’s crazy. She’s 110 percent all the time. Caity’s up in the face. She really came through a few times up there and you could just see they didn’t know what to do because of our pressure.”

Meanwhile, Underhill- Tilton (18 points) was getting started down low. The junior stroked a trey to open Richmond’s scoring and then moved inside and took control of the glass. Ten of her game-high 17 rebounds game in the first half, where she also scored eight points.

The occasional 3-pointer for the center is always encouraged.

“(Mike) Ladner encourages if you have the shot, take it,” Underhill-Tilton said. “Because Cassie (Cassidy Harriman) and I have people underneath that will look to get the rebound. Outside, inside, that’s what I’ve been trying to work on. When I have the threes, I feel confident and I try and follow through and take it.”

Inside out

Gould Academy often took to double-teaming Underhill- Tilton in the paint, when she’d kick it outside for many open looks. Freshman Bryanne Lancaster (eight points) came off the bench and splashed two treys in the second quarter, leading to a 21-8 halftime lead for Richmond.

She was wide open on both looks.

“They did a good job of double and triple-teaming Syd sometimes, especially with the big girl,” Ladner been trying to work on. When I have the threes, I feel confident and I try and follow through and take it.”

Inside out

Gould Academy often took to double-teaming Underhill- Tilton in the paint, when she’d kick it outside for many open looks. Freshman Bryanne Lancaster (eight points) came off the bench and splashed two treys in the second quarter, leading to a 21-8 halftime lead for Richmond.

She was wide open on both looks.

“They did a good job of double and triple-teaming Syd sometimes, especially with the big girl,” Ladner said. “We were preaching, ‘Syd, you get double, triple-teamed, you’ve got to kick it out to the open shooter.’ Sometimes they fell, sometimes they didn’t.”

Lancaster scored all eight of her points in the frame and was the only Bobcat to score off the free-throw line. In the third quarter, Richmond held Gould Academy to just one bucket while Underhill-Tilton iced the game inside. She pulled in three offensive boards and scored eight points as the lead grew to 23 heading into the fourth.

Amelia McMillan (nine points) was a perfect 3-for-3 from the line for Gould Academy, while Priscila Berdeja hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight.

A trey from Abbott (eight points) and a couple free throws in the final frame were more than enough to close out the scoring for Richmond. The defense had already done its job.

“I think we know that as we come along, the offense will come,” Underhill-Tilton said. “As long as we’re doing our part on defense, then the offense will come. We’re not trying to force stuff.”

On Thursday at 4 p.m. against Old Orchard Beach, you can bet to see the same exact game plan from Ladner.

“We’re going to look to press — he knows it,” said Ladner. “We’re going to look to press them, we’re going to look for turnovers and we’re going to look to slow them down. I believe they run the dribble drive, so we’re going to look to take away their penetration with our great man-to-man defense.”

Richmond defeated the Seagulls in both regular-season matchups.

No. 1 Richmond 39, No. 8 Gould Acad. 22

At the Augusta Civic Center

Gould

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3

5

2

12

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22

Richmond — 11 10 12 6 — 39 Gould — Kayley Cadet 0-1-1, Priscila Berdeja 3-0-8, Eva MacMillan 1-2-4, Amelia MacMillan 3-3-9, Ellen Abayo 0-0-0, Jillian Thiebar 0-0-0, Caroline Newell 0-0-0. Totals — 7-6-22. Richmond — Sydney Underhill-Tilton 8-1-18, Meranda Martin 1-0-2, Bryanne Lancaster 3-0-8, Rylie Irish 0-0-0, Cassidy Harriman 0-0-0, Caitlin Kendrick 1-1-3, Mackenzie Abbott 3-1-8, Lindsie Irish 0-0-0. Totals — 16-3-39. 3-point field goals — (G) Berdeja 2; (R) Lancaster 2, Underhill-Tilton, Abbott. Records — Richmond 19-0, Gould Academy 8-2. Up next for the Bobcats — Class C South semifinal against Old Orchard Beach, Thursday at the Augusta Civic Center, 4 p.m.