Lydia Giguere scored a game-high 15 points Tuesday night to lead sixth-seeded Waynflete to a 44-28 victory against 11th-ranked Traip Academy in a Class C South girls’ basketball prelim.
The Flyers (11-8) will meet third-seeded Monmouth Academy (16-3) in the quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m. Monday at the Augusta Civic Center.
After Traip (6-13) scored the first seven points, Giguere hit consecutive 3-pointers to quickly pull Waynflete within 7-6.
“It’s what we talked about all day; we cannot let (Giguere) shoot,” said Traip Coach Scott Blake.
Giguere’s biggest shot came in the final minute of the third quarter, a 3-pointer from the right wing that increased Waynflete’s lead to 29-21. From there the Flyers put the game away with a 15-7 run in the final period.
“I was confident going into (the shot). You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take, so whenever I’m open I know I’m going to shoot it and I don’t have a doubt in my mind,” said Giguere.
“(Giguere) is so clutch and just so confident. That’s the key,” said Waynflete Coach Mike Jefferds, who won his first playoff game as a head coach.
Giguere, who rolled her ankle during Friday’s regular-season finale at Sacopee Valley, showed no signs of being slowed.
“I feel great,” said Giguere. “I’m just so excited. This is my first time going to (the) Augusta (Civic Center), so I’m so ready that I’m not even noticing anything (about the ankle).”
Giguere also had eight steals.
Waynflete took its first lead with 42 seconds left in the first period when an Annika Brooks basket made it 8-7. Traip regained the lead early in the second on a Reilly Eddy layup, but Waynflete took the lead for good with 4:28 left in the half on a pair of free throws from Brooks.
Brooks finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
“(Annika) and Lydia have a really good unspoken communication thing going where they just know where each other is going to be and they work really well together,” said Jefferds.
“When Annika and I work together, we win, said Giguere.
Eddy led the Rangers with 11 points.
Taking care of the basketball was an issue for both sides. They combined to commit 56 turnovers in the 32-minute game because of effective press defenses.
“I knew our press was going to wear (Traip) down. They were (without) their point guard so they had their bigs running the point,” said Jefferds.
Traip was missing its starting point guard, Kiara Perez, who sprained her foot jumping to high-five a teammate during pregame on senior night.
“(Perez) would have helped. She probably wouldn’t have helped by 16 (points) but she would have helped,” said Blake.
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