View 6 photos

MONMOUTH — The Monmouth Academy girls basketball team was looking for a little offensive firepower, and the Mustangs found it Tuesday night.

The No. 6 Mustangs went on runs of 7-0, 12-6 and 12-0, and cruised to a 40-22 win over No. 11 Richmond in a Class C South prelim at Foster Gym. Junior forward Maeve Burgess led Monmouth (11-8) with nine points and five rebounds, while junior guard Kaitlyn Frost added eight points and five rebounds.

“We’re so excited (to win), it feels great,” Frost said.

Ella Briand led Richmond with nine points, while Emma Valley added five points. The Bobcats finish 9-10.

The Mustangs move on to the C South quarterfinals, where they will take on No. 3 Madison (13-5) at 4 p.m. next Tuesday at the Augusta Civic Center.

“Playoffs in high school basketball is just such a special time,” Monmouth coach Keith Derosby said. “We went down (to Richmond) earlier in the season (a 30-29 win on Jan. 27) and we knew they were a good team. The best thing for us (that day) was that they played us tough. We knew we’d have to be that much better to get by them.”

Game of runs

Richmond scored the first three points, but Monmouth answered with a 7-0 run to end the first quarter with a 7-5 lead. The Mustangs never looked back. Monmouth outscored Richmond 12-6 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 19-11 lead.

The Mustangs did their biggest damage late in the third quarter, beginning a 12-0 run that ended in the middle of the fourth. By the start of the fourth quarter, the Mustangs had a 32-15 lead.

“We knew what we expected (Richmond) to throw at us,” said Derosby, who is in his first season leading the Mustangs. “I was fortunate to kind of inherit a team that had a good baseline. They play well together and play off each other.”

Much of the Mustangs’ offensive damage came from quick passes that ultimately found an open shooter. Six Monmouth players scored in the first half, led by Frost, who had four points. Monmouth also showed strong work on defense, forcing 28 turnovers.

“We’ve had this play that we’ve been trying to run all year, we finally ran it right today,” Burgess said. “It really proved our practicing has been adding up. To get most of our team in to score in our prelim game before going to the (Augusta) Civic Center feels great.”

Trying to get a step further

Though Monmouth routinely makes the Class C South playoffs, it has not reached the semifinals since the 2017-18 season. That was the year the Mustangs won the second of back-to-back Class C titles, punctuated by a 56-50 win over Houlton in the state final.

“I want them to make sure they’re not giving those ticky-tack fouls,” Derosby said. “We preach depth for those reasons, and those kinds of moments, so when you get three fouls, you can go to some of those sophomores.

“For some of (the players), it’s going to be their first time on the floor in a big moment. If we can keep building off of that confidence, trust in ourselves and each other, I think that’s what I’m looking for.”

They said it

“We just have such a great atmosphere (with this team), everyone just likes each other. We have really good confidence on the team, and we have each other’s backs.” — Kaitlyn Frost

“Keeping each other accountable at practices (moving forward) is going to help us out in the (quarterfinal) against Madison. We faced them last year in the playoffs. This game is a big one for us.” — Maeve Burgess

Statistical leaders

Monmouth: Maeve Burgess (nine points, five rebounds), Kaitlyn Frost (eight points, five rebounds), Lillian Palleschi (seven points)

Richmond: Ella Briand (nine points), Emma Valley (five points)