Back on Feb. 7, Boothbay Region High School’s Lady Seahawks basketball team concluded the regular season with its second victory this season over Madison, 53-20.

Boothbay Region entered the Western Maine C girls’ tournament as the second seed, while Madison finished tenth and regulated to win a preliminary game to make the tournament.

But the Bulldogs put their two lopsided regular season losses to Boothbay behind them on Feb. 17 and upset Boothbay Region, 43-41, at the Augusta Civic Center.

With 9.1 seconds remaining and the score tied, 41-41, Boothbay Region had the ball, but turned it over on a double dribble violation. The Bulldogs advanced the ball into the halfcourt.

Madison guard Kayla Bess, who led the Bulldogs with 14 points, had the ball. She passed to Emily Oliver, under the basket, who scored the game winning basket as the buzzer sounded.

The Bulldogs took advantage of several Seahawk turnovers, especially in the first half, and got a strong rebounding effort throughout the game.

Madison ended the first quarter, leading 12-5. The Bulldogs converted multiple offensive rebounds into easy baskets. On the defensive end, Madison limited Boothbay Region to only one shot.

Boothbay Region scored all five first quarter points on free throws. Madison coach Albert Veneziano said his team focused on limiting scoring opportunities for the Seahawks top scorers. Madison played mostly man-to-man defense in the previous games against Boothbay.

But that strategy changed in the tournament.

The Bulldogs played mostly zone and kept an eye on guards Morgan Crocker and Sara Durgan and forward Page Brown.

Veneziano was pleased how his underdog Bulldogs battled against a high seed and executed the new game plan in their victory.

“We battled and kept our composure all game long,” Veneziano said. “We held ourselves together and executed what we wanted to happen. We did a good job a limiting No. 23 (Crocker), No. 11 (Durgan) and No. 5 (Brown).”

Crocker scored a game-high 23 points. Other Seahawk scorers were Brown, 13; Durgan, 3; and Cagney O’Brien, 2.

Boothbay Region trailed 17-15 at halftime. The Seahawks tied the score at 26 on a Crocker 3-pointer and took their first lead seconds later. Seahawk guard Hannah Morley stole the ball and passed to Crocker for a lay-up with 2:11 remaining in the quarter.

Boothbay Region expanded its lead to 35-30 with 6:20 remaining in the fourth quarter. Brown scored off an offensive rebound. The lead changed hands several times before Boothbay Region held a 41-38 lead.

Bess converted a steal into a three-point play as she was fouled on her layup to tie the game at 41-41.

Boothbay Region coach Tanner Grover believed his team’s slow start and Madison’s strong rebounding were the contributing factors in the loss.

“We had trouble getting going and struggled offensively,” Grover said. “We missed a lot of shots we normally make, but hats off to Madison. They played extremely well. They were patient. And they handled the pressure well.”

In Boothbay Region’s two victories over Madison, the Seahawks out-rebounded Madison by significant margins, according to Grover. However, on Feb. 17, it was the Bulldogs who dominated the rebounding action.

“The key tonight’s game was rebounding. They did a great job on the glass. And we didn’t get it done,” Grover said.

Boothbay Region ends its season with an 18-2 record.

The team finished second in the Heal Point standings and won the Mountain Valley Conference championship. The team has a strong nucleus of young players. Grover believes his team will return to Augusta next season.

“Tonight didn’t go the way we planned,” he said. “But we have a lot of talented young players, and we’ll get back here next year and hopefully do a lot of good things.”

No. 10 Madison advances to play No. 3 Dirigo of Dixfield in the Western Maine Class C girls’ semifinals.