Boothbay and Winthrop girls’ basketball teams battled four times this season. No. 2 Boothbay narrowly claimed both regular season contests, once by forcing a violation in the closing seconds, and the second, in overtime. In the final two meetings, Winthrop turned the tide claiming victories and championships. The top-ranked Lady Ramblers won a double-digit victory Feb. 15 in the Mountain Valley Championship game and followed that up winning their first regional basketball championship since 1990, on Feb. 22, with a 38-34 win at the Augusta Civic Center. 

Each of the four games was a stark contrast in styles between Boothbay’s size and Winthrop’s speed. In the end, Winthrop had too much grit, determination and just enough offense in winning the regional title. Both teams were plagued by turnovers in the regional final. Boothbay committed 19 and Wintrop had 16. On the boards, Boothbay’s size advantage wasn’t significant enough, only grabbing a slim 19-17 rebounding edge.

Neither team shot particularly well. Boothbay shot 15-39 for an unofficial 38%. Winthrop connected on 13-39 for 33 %. In the third quarter, Winthrop missed its first nine shots before Rambler guards Madison Forgue and Sage Fortin buried back-to-back 3-pointers. Winthrop went the first six minutes of the third quarter without scoring. The consecutive 3-pointers erased a three-point deficit which Boothbay earned on a Chloe Arsenault 3-pointer, but the Lady Seahawks experienced a cold shooting spell of their own, missing their next five shots. Arsenault scored all five of Boothbay’s third quarter points. She connected on a 14 footer near the quarter’s end, pulling Boothbay to within 27-24.   

In the fourth quarter, Winthrop managed to pull away and expand its lead to eight. The Lady Ramblers went on a 7-2 run ignited by guard Maddie Perkins’ 14-foot jumper. Seahawk Jaelyn Crocker powered in a hoop from the low post. Winthrop responded with a hoop by Forgue and two free throws from Aaliyah Wilson-Falcone. Boothbay rallied when Arsenault hit a short baseline jumper and Glory Blethen nailed a 3-pointer reducing Winthrop’s lead to three.

With 3:30 remaining, Boothbay continued slowly cutting into the deficit. Arsenault hit an 18-footer and Blethen hit one of two free throws, cutting Winthrop’s lead to 34-33. But the Lady Seahawks never got any closer. Winthrop hit a free throw to double its slim lead to two and, in the closing seconds, Boothbay guard Josey Smith missed a difficult 17-footer for a tie. Winthrop’s Lydia Rice closed out the scoring making two free throws.

For Boothbay, Arsenault led all scorers with 20 points. “It was a close game, back-and-forth the whole way. I guess that’s how a championship game should go,” she said.

As Boothbay struggled offensively, coach Brian Blethen sprinkled in a few variations of low-post and out-of-bounds plays in trying to prime a stagnant offense. “We went with our strength inside, but just couldn’t score enough,” he said. “When you play a team four times, there aren’t any secrets.”

One strategy which worked was posting the 5-6 Arsenault against 5-5 Wilson-Falcone. Arsenault scored six of her game high 20 points in the first quarter. Winthrop coach Joe Burnham switched Wilson-Falcone to another player in the next three quarters. Coach Blethen hoped the task of guarding Arsenault would frustrate and lead Wilson-Falcone into foul trouble.

“Chloe was just awesome. She is a lunch bucket and hard hat type of player,” he said. “She is a hard worker which epitomizes her as a person and student. She never quits which everybody saw tonight.”

In the end, Winthrop’s scoring depth was likely the main difference. Wilson-Falcone led the Ramblers with 12. Other Rambler scorers were Fortin with seven, Forgue with six, Perkins five, Frost four, and Jillian Smelzer and Rice with two each.

Other Seahawk scorers were Blethen and Crocker with six each, and Kylie Brown had two.

Winthrop (19-2) advances to the state final Saturday night in Augusta against Northern champ Central Aroostook (18-4). Boothbay ends its season 18-3. In the past four seasons, Boothbay has three tournament losses to the eventual state champion. If Winthrop wins the state title, it will be four of five years.