BANGOR, Maine — A solid all-around effort lifted the No. 3 Machias girls basketball team to a 47-36 victory over East Grand Saturday evening in a Class D North quarterfinal.
With the win, the Bulldogs (14-4 overall) advance to the semifinals 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, at the Cross Insurance Center where they will face either No. 2 Wisdom or No. 7 Katahdin.
“We really wanted to control the pace of play tonight on both ends of the floor,” Machias coach Matt Johnson said. “We had some good rotations early and scored some points off turnovers.”
Machias jumped to a 13-0 lead to close out the first quarter, as East Grand struggled to find the bottom of the net. The Vikings finally got on the scoreboard in the second quarter, and tightened up defensively.
Jaydin Anderson led the Bulldogs with 18 points, while Skyler Tinker and Kristen Grant both scored 11. Jaida Case added four and Summer Sizemore had three.
For East Grand, Isabella Cowger led the way with 12 points, followed by Victoria Gilman with eight, Phoebe Foss and Madeline Cowger, both six, and Emma Davis, four.
Machias led 13-0, 24-12, and 34-24 at the quarter breaks.
“We were concerned about their nerves coming out,” assistant coach Angela Cowger said. “They were able to settle down and kept with [Machias], but it’s awfully hard once you dig yourself into a hole.”
Cowger has been filling in for head coach Matt Day, who is employed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and was deployed to Texas.
No. 6 East Grand ends its season with an 11-8 overall record.