The Boothbay girls basketball team cruised into this year’s regional tournament with an 18-0 record. But the Lady Seahawks hit a bump in the road in their quarterfinal encounter with No. 8 Saint Dominic with a tight 32-26 win. So on Feb. 21, the Lady Seahawks wanted to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind about the outcome of their semifinal match-up with Mountain Valley Conference foe No. 13 Madison.

Boothbay stormed to a 20-1 first quarter lead. Madison missed all four shots from the field in the first quarter, and scored with two seconds remaining in the quarter. Bulldog freshman forward Lillian Levesque grabbed an offensive rebound and Seahawk guard Kylie Brown fouled her on the put back. Levesque made one of two free throws and the quarter ended with Boothbay garnering a 20-1 advantage. The second quarter was more of the same. Boothbay emptied the bench in the first half and built a 35-7 halftime lead.

For Boothbay, the game’s opening moments were geared toward setting the tone for the rest of tournament week. “We didn’t want to leave any doubts in anyone’s mind,” said Boothbay coach Brian Blethen. “Yes, we did have a bumpy quarterfinal game, but we know what we are capable of, and that’s how we came out and played tonight.”

Boothbay (20-0) easily advanced to Saturday’s Class C South Girls final with a 55-23 win over the Bulldogs. Madison was the lowest seed in this year’s tournament at No. 13. The Bulldogs upset No. 4 Hebron Academy in a preliminary round victory. In the quarterfinals, Madison ousted No. 12 Traip to reach the semifinals.

Boothbay was led in scoring by sophomore Glory Blethen who scored 13 of her game-high 20 points in the first half. Other Seahawk scorers were Faith Blethen with 11, Chloe Arsenault with seven, Jaelyn Crocker with six, Ashley Abbott with five, and Haley Abbott, Kylie Brown and Maddie Faulkingham with two points apiece.

Boothbay’s next opponent is No. 3 North Yarmouth Academy who finished the season 14-4, but neither the Seahawks nor Panthers lost to a Class C foe all season. NYA’s four losses came against Class A and B opponents. Greely beat NYA twice and Gray New Gloucester and Yarmouth registered victories. This year’s finalists compete in separate conferences, but the Boothbay squad is familiar with three of the Panthers: Katherine and Margaret Larson along with Helen Hamblett are all from the Boothbay region.

“I played with them on travel teams so it should be fun playing against them in the finals. Both teams play a lot in transition so there should be a lot of running. I'm really excited about Saturday’s game,” said forward Glory Blethen.

NYA knocked out two-time defending state champion Monmouth in the quarterfinals and crushed No. 2 Winthrop in the semis, 55-34. Boothbay and NYA had two common opponents this year: Saint Dom’s and Winthrop. The Panthers beat Saint Dom’s twice: 53-40 and 56-44. Boothbay defeated the Saints 32-26 in this year’s tournament. Both teams easily handled Winthrop this season. Boothbay defeated the Ramblers, 47-24 during the regular season. And NYA scored a 23-point win over Winthrop on Thursday.

A key factor in the championship game may be senior guard Ashley Abbott’s health. She rolled her ankle during warmups against Saint Dominic and saw limited action in the previous two games. Following Thursday’s game, Abbott said she’s ready to play. “It’s good. Hopefully, I’m going to play. I’m doing a lot of ice baths,” she said.

The girls Class C South regional final is at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.