AUGUSTA, Maine — The defending state champion Lawrence of Fairfield girls basketball team provides opposing coaches enough headaches in trying to figure out how to contain Boston University-bound center Nia Irving and her fellow 1,000-point senior, guard Dominique Lewis.
So when a third scorer enters the act like Camryn Caldwell did Friday night, there’s virtually no chance to upset the undefeated Bulldogs.
Caldwell, a junior guard, capitalized on a collapsing defense that focused its attention on Irving to score 11 of her 18 points during the first quarter as coach John Donato’s top-seeded club rolled past No. 9 Skowhegan 63-33 in their Class A North quarterfinal at the Augusta Civic Center.
Lawrence (19-0) advances to face No. 5 Hampden Academy in Wednesday’s semifinals. Hampden (11-8) used a last-second shot by senior Courtney Dunton to defeat No. 4 Nokomis of Newport 42-40 in Friday night’s first game.
Skowhegan finishes its season at 7-13.
Caldwell hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the game, then took a Morgan Boudreau pass in for a layup to give Lawrence a 8-0 lead and force a Skowhegan timeout just 79 seconds into the contest.
The break didn’t help the Indians, as Irving got involved offensively with two free throws and a follow-up basket to stretch the lead to 12-0. When Caldwell soon connected on her third 3-pointer, Lawrence had a 22-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“I know they’re doubling and tripling Nia so that means I’m usually open,” said Caldwell.
Lawrence’s fullcourt press and perimeter aggression out of its halfcourt zone defense, all keyed by Lewis, Caldwell and Boudreau, helped hold Skowhegan to a single 3-point field goal by Mariah Dunbar during the second quarter as the Bulldogs extended their cushion to 40-8 at the break.
Irving finished the night with 18 points and 17 rebounds despite sitting out most of the second half, while Boudreau and Molly Folsom each scored seven points.
Tracey Swanson led Skowhegan with eight points.
