AUGUSTA — The Richmond girls’ basketball team knew it would have its hands full Tuesday trying to stop or slow down Hebron center Janelle Bradish.
“She’s the only true post player that I’ve seen in Western D,” Richmond Coach Molly Bishop said. “She can dominate.”
But so, too, can Richmond sophomore center Jamie Plummer, who led her team to a 53-38 victory in a Western Class D quarterfinal at the Augusta Civic Center.
Top-seeded Richmond (18-1) will face No. 4 Greenville (13-5) in a regional semifinal Thursday. No. 8 Hebron finished 8-10.
The 6-foot Plummer scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help the Bobcats overcome a dominant performance by Bradish.
Bradish, a 5-foot-10 senior center, finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots.
“She’s tough,” Plummer said. “We knew she would be the one we would have to focus on.”
Bradish kept Hebron in the game until she fouled out late in the fourth quarter. The Lumberjacks led 12-11 after the first quarter and trailed just 38-36 early in the fourth quarter.
However, the Bobcats closed the game on a 15-2 run.
“(Bradish) gave us some trouble,” Bishop said. “She shot pretty well from the outside a few times.”
Brooke Lancaster and Payton Johnson each scored 11 points for Richmond. Johnson also defended Bradish for much of the second half after the Bobcats decided against matching up size with size.
“We didn’t defend her well,” Bishop added. “I had to take advantage of a speed matchup more than anything else.”
Richmond never led by more than five points in the first half. The Bobcats used an 8-2 run early in the third to open a 33-23 lead and threatened to pull away for good.
But Bradish scored two inside baskets in the closing minutes of the third to pull the Lumberjacks within 33-27.
Hebron then went on a 9-2 run early in the fourth quarter, seven points coming from Bradish, to pull within 38-36.
“We knew coming in it would be tough,” Lancaster said.
The Bobcats recovered down the stretch, with Plummer and Johnson making key shots to push the lead into double digits.
Bradish fouled out with about three minutes left when she was slapped with personal and technical fouls.
Richmond took advantage. Plummer and Lancaster each scored three points to help the Bobcats pull away.
Lancaster got seven of her 11 points in the second half.
“We had to come out and make our mark,” Lancaster said.
Turnovers and foul trouble contributed to Hebron’s late collapse. The Lumberjacks had 28 turnovers, compared to just 14 for Richmond.
“We played tight defense,” said Lancaster, who also had five rebounds. “We forced them to make bad passes and take bad shots.”
Olivia Brown scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds for Hebron.
Bill Stewart — 623-3811, ext. 515
bstewart@centralmaine.com
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