For the fourth time this season, the Lady Seahawks will battle Winthrop in Class C schoolgirl action. The first three were in Mountain Valley Conference play. Boothbay won both regular season matchups, but Winthrop still earned the top ranking in the Heal point standings. A third meeting was played in Lewiston, and Winthrop captured its first win over Boothbay in several years at the MVC championship. But the fourth meeting is for all the marbles. The two teams won their regional semifinal games Feb. 20 setting up another Seahawk-Rambler showdown.

For Boothbay, another regional final is old hat. The Lady Seahawks have appeared in three straight regional finals and four in five years. In 2019, the Lady Seahawks won their first state title since 1984, and as far as 2020 goes, Boothbay is focused on bringing home another gold ball. No. 2 Boothbay defeated No. 11 Traip, 46-32. The Rangers earned a tournament spot by upsetting No. 6 in the preliminary round and No. 3 and 2019 runner-up North Yarmouth Academy in the quarterfinals. But Traip’s Cinderella story ended Thursday against Boothbay. The Lady Seahawks scored early and often racing out to a 7-0 lead in notching a 46-32 semifinal victory. Boothbay’s Chloe Arsenault hit a 15-footer and forward Glory Blethen scored the next five points with a post move and 3-pointer before Traip’s Jen McCluskey hit a 12-foot jumper.

Despite the win, Boothbay coach Brian Blethen believed the team’s play in the second half “wasn’t exactly stellar.” Traip’s full-court zone pressure created a few more turnovers and Boothbay started missing open shots. “Sometimes you win a little dirty. Sometimes you gotta find a way to win when you’re not playing at your best. They messed up our rhythm  with their full-court pressure. It affected our shooting and we missed more free throws than we usually do,” he said.

But on defense, Boothbay was solid the entire game. The Lady Seahawks’ man-to-man defense stifled Traip’s scoring chances especially in the low post. “We did a nice job on defense,” Glory Blethen said. “Especially on the backside, Jaelyn (Crocker) did a really good job communicating and being in position.”

Despite a fourth quarter cold shooting snap, Traip couldn’t cut Boothbay’s lead below 11. The missed shots caused Coach Blethen some consternation which resulted in a timeout with 5:48 remaining. “I thought we could’ve been a little more selective with our shots and I told our players that,” he said. “We have a lead and I thought we could’ve waited for better shots.”

This year’s Lady Seahawks have five players who played significant roles in the 2019 state championship. As the season approaches championship weekend, Boothbay is searching for another golden moment. “We really want to win another one,” Glory Blethen said. “There’s not as much pressure which helps us play more relaxed. I think we’re playing our best right now.”

For Kylie Brown, the veteran team is a close-knit group which makes for good on-court chemistry. “We’re all friends which helps. We work hard on and off the court together. So we’re all playing hard and want to win bad,” she said. 

Glory Blethen led all scorers with 18 points. Other Seahawk scorers included Jaelyn Crocker and Brown with nine each, Arsenault with seven, and Josey Smith with three. No. 2 Boothbay (18-2) plays No. 1 Winthrop at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.