The Wells High girls’ basketball team struggled to score in two regular-season losses to Yarmouth.
“The attitude was, you beat us twice but you can’t beat us a third time,” said Wells senior guard Kenzie Foss. “They were probably our two worst games of the season.”
Foss helped to make her case by scoring 10 points in a pivotal second quarter Tuesday at the Portland Expo. Fifth-seeded Wells built a 10-point halftime lead and was never threatened in the second half in a 52-38 victory over the Clippers in the Class B South quarterfinals.
Foss finished with 15 points with three 3-pointers, including a dagger with 5:15 to play that pushed the Warriors’ lead to 45-29.
Franny Ramsdell, a junior guard, led the Warriors in scoring with 17 points and set an early tone of taking advantage of gaps in the Yarmouth defense and driving hard to the basket.
Wells (13-6) will face top-seeded Gray-New Gloucester (17-2) at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in a regional semifinal at the Cross Insurance Arena. Gray, which has only lost to unbeaten Class A power Greely, beat Wells, 58-28, in the regular season.
No. 4 Yarmouth (12-7) had also stymied Wells, defeating Wells 44-32 and 37-22 earlier in the season.
“I just wanted the tempo to be fast,” said Wells Coach Don Abbott. “Even if we were ahead, I didn’t want one of those 6-2 quarters. We wanted to play a little faster than we have against them.”
Freshman center Grace Ramsdell added eight points and keyed Wells’ rebounding advantage. Sophomore guard Mallory Aromando, who left the game after the third period after a hard fall that resulted in a cut above her eye, also scored eight points.
Calin McGonagle led Yarmouth with 13 points. The Clippers started well, making three of their first four shots, but were just 11 of 48 the rest of the game. A youthful team (one senior in the seven-player rotation), Yarmouth won seven more games than it did last winter.
“I have to keep this in perspective with the team,” said first-year Clippers Coach David Cousins. “They’re so young. They came every day to try to get better. I’m very proud of the fact that they improved seven wins this year and made it to the tournament. That’s what we need to have to build this program.”
Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:
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