Spaulding and Newmarket will square off in Sunday's girls basketball championship at the 14th annual Holiday Basketball Classic at Oyster River HS.
DURHAM – Spaulding High School girls basketball head coach Scott Blake thought the Red Raiders had a mismatch with senior Dimaya Perkins in Saturday’s semifinal against Dover in the 14th annual Bobcat Holiday Classic at Oyster River High School.
After just two points through the first three quarters, the 5-foot-9 Perkins scored eight of her 10 points in the fourth quarter as Spaulding beat Division I rival, 38-33 in Saturday’s late girls semifinal.
“(Perkins) was huge,” Blake said. “We talked pregame that we needed to work the ball around and get the ball to (Perkins) down low where she can go to work. We started off red-hot from the outside and really didn’t get the ball inside to her until the fourth quarter.”
Perkins had just two points in the first half, hitting one free throw in each of the first two quarters, and was held scoreless until the fourth quarter. In the final 8 minutes, Perkins had three field goals in the paint, and went 2-for-5 from the free-throw line.
“When she gets going, she’s as good as anybody,” Blake said. “She gets rebounds and when she just plays, she’s exactly what we need. We really didn’t get the ball inside to her until the fourth quarter.”
Spaulding, which beat Keene in Friday’s tourney opener, will face Division IV Newmarket in Sunday’s championship game. Tip-off is scheduled for noon at Oyster River High School. Newmarket advanced with a 51-37 win over Division I Winnacunnet.
Spaulding has lost its first three games, all by double-digits, in its Division I regular-season schedule, but Blake said two wins in two days in the tournament is “huge” for his team, and getting to play for a championship is a “big thing.”
“Coming in here, we needed wins to build our confidence a little bit,” Blake said. “These two wins have been great.”
Spaulding jumped out to a 13-2 lead, and took a 17-6 advantage into the second quarter.
Back-to-back 3-points from Dover’s Avery Littlefield tied the game at 19-19 with 2:41 left in the half. The teams went into halftime tied at 20-20, and were tied at 25-25 going into the fourth quarter. Dover couldn't maintain the momentum when it got back in the game.
“We have a young team with a lot of girls with first-time varsity experience,” Dover head coach Jimmy Flynn said. “It’s definitely been an adjustment for us, but games like this coming in a Christmas tournament is good so we can learn from it. We’re just trying to get better.”
Megan Uraskevich led Spaulding with 12 points, while Ellie Averill also had 10. Littlefield led Dover with 19, while Ali Sullivan had eight, and Katilyn Bastille had six.
Newmarket advances to championship game
Sophomore Kiara Rugora scored 22 points and Amaya Beckles had 17 as Newmarket held off Winnacunnet.
“Took us awhile to get going, but we finally figured it out,” Newmarket head coach Randy Edgerly said. “Played good defense after the half, and did a nice job of breaking pressure.”
Kaila Roy led Winnacunnet with nine points, while Maiya Arthur had six, and Khloe Tower five.
Oyster River wins consolation game
Oyster River outscored Kearsage, 31-11 in the the second half and rolled to a 57-35 win in a consolation game at Oyster River Middle School.
Wren Horne led the Bobcats with 14 points, while Ashling Ferris and Avery Biggwither both had 11, and Payton Drapeau had 10.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Spaulding, Newmarket girls to play in tourney final. How they got here
Category: General Sports
