Two out of three ain’t bad, but it wasn’t good enough for the Boothbay Lady Seahawks to advance into the Lobster Jam summer basketball tournament. Boothbay lost its opening game in pool play against Lewiston Friday, and won both contests Saturday against Gardiner and Oceanside. But Lewiston won all three games and won Pool B.

 

Lewiston joined defending champion Oxford Hills, Cheverus and Gorham in the tournament’s semifinals. In the final, Oxford Hills reclaimed its crown by defeating Cheverus.

 

This was the ninth Lobster Jam summer girls’ basketball tournament hosted by Boothbay Region High School. Each summer, the Lady Seahawks have invited 15 other high school programs to play in a tournament which follows winter regular season conditions. The games are 32 minutes long with stop time; fouls count toward the  bonus and disqualification. 

 

The Lobster Jam has four pools with four teams each. Each team plays three games within the pool, and the top four teams advance to a playoff round. 

 

Boothbay girls’ basketball coach Brian Blethen described this year’s tournament as another success due to an outstanding field and community support. The Lobster Jam is designed to duplicate a tournament atmosphere by playing against top competition in a pressure-packed setting. “Our goal in the off season and preseason is to play strong competition and get better as a team. We did that this summer and we feel confident we will have success in the upcoming regular season because of this approach,” he said. “The best way to describe this year's Lobster Jam is it was like having family come to town. It is very rewarding to have so many competitive teams want to come to our community and wrap up the summer basketball season in Boothbay.”

 

Three of this year’s participants won state championships last season, Oxford Hills, (AA), Greely (A) and Boothbay (C).