Hodgdon High School freshman guard Anna Oliver turned in a memorable Cross Insurance Center debut, pouring in 19 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists to lead the fifth-seeded Hawks to a 53-32 victory over No. 4 Central of Corinth in their Class C quarterfinal on Monday night.
Junior Marissa Dow had 17 points and three rebounds and Sadie Thompson scored eight points.
The talented Oliver also ran the offense superbly and did an exceptional job defensively on Central standout sophomore Izzy Allen.
Allen, making her tournament debut after last season’s tournament was wiped out by COVID-19, finished with 18 points and did a nice job creating shots but just couldn’t get them to fall as she shot just 6-for-28 from the floor. She had a game-high 10 rebounds.
Aleyah Matheson had seven points and seven rebounds for the winners.
Rylee Speed had six points, four rebounds and three steals for Central.
It was Hodgdon’s first appearance in the quarterfinals in nine years.
Hodgdon improved to 15-3 while Central concluded a 16-3 season.
Hodgdon shot 20-for-47 from the floor compared with Central’s 11-for-45.
“We played very well as a team,” said Hodgdon coach Wendell Harvey. “We handled Central’s switching defenses well. We kept our poise. And we shot the ball extremely well. When you make shots like we did tonight in Bangor, something good is going to happen.”
Oliver played with the poise of a senior.
“I knew if I was nervous, I would be useless. I tried to stay calm and composed,” Oliver said.
“Getting off to a good start was definitely a spark for us,” she added. “We all played really well as a team. Our ball movement has definitely improved.”
Oliver said she tried to “stay in front” of Allen when she was guarding her and “get around the screens.”
The Hodgdon girls went on a 21-3 run at the expense of the turnover-plagued Red Devils to build a 27-12 lead in the first half and then used an 11-2 spurt in the third quarter after Central pulled within seven.
Oliver had nine points, four rebounds and three assists in the first half and Dow had eight points with Thompson chipping in six.
Allen’s eight points and six rebounds paced Central with Speed contributing six points and two rebounds.
Hodgdon went 5-for-8 beyond the 3-point arc.