Boggs gets busy for Tigers Rockland picks up quarterfinal berth

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PITTSFIELD – Rockland High sophomore guard Baillie Boggs epitomized a busybody Tuesday night.

Busy on the offensive end, scoring a game-high 18 points and dishing out four assists.

Busy on the backboards, grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds.

And busy on defense, anticipating passes well enough to make five steals, and playing the pivotal role in Rockland’s box-and-one set as the No. 9 Tigers handled No. 8 Maine Central Institute 47-31 in an Eastern Maine Class B girls basketball preliminary-round contest at Wright Gymnasium.

“The Boggs girl is a handful,” said MCI coach Jason Allen. “At 5-foot-10 with her athleticism and ability to handle the ball and get to the basket, she’s a super player as a sophomore.”

The win advances the 11-8 Tigers to a regional quarterfinal Saturday at the Bangor Auditorium against top-ranked Waterville (18-0).

Boggs had 12 points, five rebounds and three steals by intermission as Rockland built a 23-18 lead, then added two free throws after grabbing an offensive rebound and a steal and layup during 10-2 run at the outset of the second half that broke the game open.

Boggs also guarded MCI’s Victoria Huff one-on-one in Rockland’s box-and-one defense and limited the Huskies’ standout to six points on six shot attempts.

“[Baillie] has matured well through the year,” said Rockland coach Karen Bickmore. “She stepped up to another level tonight, especially in the first half. Defensively we asked her to be the stopper, and she also shot well [7 of 9] from the free-throw line. It was just a great contribution from a sophomore.”

MCI wasn’t surprised by the box-and-one – Rockland used it a week earlier in a 60-45 win over the Huskies.

“We’ve seen it the last four Tuesday nights,” said Allen, whose team finishes with a 12-7 record after a 10-1 start. “It’s nothing we were surprised by, it’s nothing we didn’t practice for. It’s just one of those things where tonight we couldn’t generate enough, we couldn’t make enough shots.”

Junior guard-forward Dana Clark added 11 points for Rockland, which did a solid job of making the extra pass in order to secure better shots throughout the game.

“We worked the basketball well,” said Bickmore. “We’ve had an emphasis on our post play, to take advantage of getting the ball to the paint and scoring from there. Whether it’s penetration from a guard or an entry pass to the post, we want to try to get the high-percentage shots.”

Jenna Lorentsen led MCI with eight points and 11 rebounds.

TIGERS 47, HUSKIES 31

Rockland (11-8) MCI (12-7)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Felt 0 0 2 2 2 B. Asaro 0 7 0

Clark 5 10 1 4 11 A. Asaro 0 0

Hansen 0 4 1 2 1 Mosher 1 1 2

Boggs 5 15 7 9 18 McLaggn 0 0 0

Harjula 0 0 0 0 0 Judkins 2 4 6

Nolan 0 1 0 2 0 Kr. Huff 0 0

Ranquist 0 1 0 0 0 Filds-Lve 0 0

Heal 2 2 0 0 4 V. Huff 2 6 2 6

Sirois 2 5 1 2 5 Lorentsen 4 10 0 0 8

Joyce 0 0 0 0 0 Ky. Huff 1 3

Picard 3 9 0 0 6 Clement 0 1 0

Ka. Huff 3 8 6

Totals 17 47 12 21 47 Totals 13 49 31

Rockland 13 23 33 47

MCI 10 18 24 31

3-pt. goals – Rockland (1-2): Boggs 1-2; MCI (2-11): Judkins 2-4, Ka. Huff 0-1, Fields-Love 0-1, A. Asaro 0-2, V. Huff 0-3

Attendance: 450 (est.)