By: KJ Cardinal
Semifinal Sunday at The Bash is in the books and host Farmington and Portsmouth Christian Academy will play for the girls title, while Belmont and Coe-Brown will meet for the boys crown.
The semifinals themselves weren’t really all that close as three of the four games were decided by 19 points or more. In both of the boys semifinals, the Division IV teams (Profile & PCA) hung around in the first half of their games, but the bigger D-II and D-III squads (CBNA & Belmont) pulled away in the second half. The closest semifinal on the day saw the host D-IV Tigers defeat D-II Coe Brown by eight points.
Belmont was playing without Anakin Underhill, but the Red Raiders got massive contributions from Keegan Martinez (32) and Treshawn Ray (19), while Brady Thurber stepped up and netted 11 points.
Behind big man Jack Matson, the Coe-Brown boys make their first appearance in The Bash title game since 1992 when the Bears downed host Farmington for their second title in tourney history.
In the PCA-Franklin girls semifinal, it was the Ava Buchanan and Kourtney Kaplan show as Buchanan poured in 30 points for the Eagles, while Kaplan dropped 29 for the Golden Tornadoes.
The Farmington girls return to The Bash final for the second-straight year and will be in search of their first title since 2009. Last year the Tigers lost the championship game in a rock fight to Kennett, 28-27.
As anticipated, Sunday’s semis were played in front of a packed house at The Jungle at Farmington High School and Monday’s finals should be the same.
Monday’s title game schedule is as follows:
GIRLS: Portsmouth Christian Academy vs. Farmington, 5:30 pm
BOYS: Belmont vs. Coe-Brown, 7:00 pm
USEFUL LINKS: Photo Galleries | Day 4 Video Archives
BOYS: Belmont 85, Portsmouth Christian 60
Belmont: Keagan Martinez 32, Treshawn Ray 19, Brady Thurber 11
PCA: Cai Summers 26, Zealand Marquis 11
GIRLS: Farmington 51, Coe-Brown 43
Farmington: Shaylee DiPrizio 18
Coe-Brown: Emma LaPierre 17
BOYS: Coe-Brown 57, Profile 32
CBNA: Jack Matson 22, Matthew Flanagan 10
Profile: Cayden Wakeham 12, Daryion Faustin 11
GIRLS: Portsmouth Christian 60, Franklin 41
PCA: Ava Buchanan 30
Franklin: Kourtney Kaplan 29
GIRLS: Kennett 45, Nute 33
Kennett: Abigail Hynes 18, Marlie Liebenow 15
Nute: Penny Meehan 8