Boothbay Region forward Abel Bryer quieted the Madison crowd in the first half as he “shushed” them prior to shooting a second foul shot.

In the second half, he silenced the Madison partisans. Bryer blocked Bulldog forward Devon Watt’s last second shot preserving Boothbay Region’s 61-59 victory Monday in the Class C South quarterfinal at the Augusta Civic Center.

Trailing by two, No. 3 Madison had one final possession to either tie or beat No. 6 Boothbay Region with 6.8 seconds remaining. Following a timeout, Madison took possession of the ball near its bench. The inbound thrower passed to guard Evan Molloy who dribbled out of the double-team. He attempted a pass to Watt. The pass was deflected, but seemingly found its way to Watt three feet from the basket. Watt shot the ball, but Bryer swatted it away.

During the game’s final timeout, Boothbay Region Coach I.J. Pinkham reminded his players to defend the inbound passer and not be too concerned about a three-point shot.

“I told them they only need two. I don’t think they will look for three,” he said. “Let’s make sure the inbound passer doesn’t slip by you and go in for two. They did that a number of times this year.”

This was the third meeting between Boothbay Region and Madison this season. In the previous meetings, Pinkham played man-to-man defense, but in the tournament, the Seahawks played a 2-3 zone.

Pinkham believed the zone was a better strategy against the bigger and more physical Bulldog team.

“I thought they were more athletic than us so we played zone, and it worked pretty well. It was a fun game,” Pinkham said.

It seemed the zone was a perfect fit for Seahawk guard Jacob Leonard. His quick hands and feet bothered the Bulldog guards by either knocking away passes or stealing the ball outright. Boothbay Region’s active hands deflected several Bulldogs’ passes which ignited the Seahawks’ fast break.

Leonard finished with 20 points with most of his scores resulting on fast-break layups. Leonard credited his team’s defensive play for the upset victory.

“Our defense was definitely the key. It really opened up a lot opportunities for us to score,” he said. “We were excellent in the open court. And my teammates really did a great job in getting me the ball in transition.”

Four other Seahawks scored in the victory. Guard Kyle Ames had 13 points, which included three three-pointers, guard Nick Gorey had six, guard Carter Babcock had 13, and Bryer had nine.

Boothbay Region (13-7) now plays No. 2 Winthrop in the regional semifinal at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Augusta Civic Center. Winthrop (16-3) split its two regular season games with Boothbay Region. Each team won on its home court.