Matching up inside has been a problem for the Bangor Rams this season. The scenario remains the same during Friday night’s Eastern Maine Class A basketball semifinals at the Bangor Auditorium.

Coach Roger Reed’s squad, which averages just 6 feet and has no regular over 6-1, will have to shut down 6-5 center Mike Adams to beat Mt. Blue. The top-seeded Rams will face the No. 5 Cougars at 8:35 p.m., while No. 2 Lawrence of Fairfield meets third-seeded Old Town in the 7:05 p.m. contest.

Bangor’s difficulty matching up is mainly against Adams, a senior who averaged 28 points and 14 rebounds for Coach Jim Bessey’s Cougars. The 15-4 Rams, who rely almost exclusively on man-to-man defense, will look to 6-1 forward Ryan Soucie to handle Adams.

A quick tempo has been the preferred pace for both teams this season. Mt. Blue, 14-5, led the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference with 84.4 points per game, while Bangor put 73 ppg on the scoreboard.

Bangor may be able to take advantage of its team quickness, especially that of Tommy Lynch and Chip Clark. The Rams, who scrimmaged Mt. Blue in preseason, will also have to deal with the Cougars’ full-court, run-and-jump pressure.

“We’ve had to work this week, make sure we don’t get caught in their run-and-jump stuff,” Reed said. “I think we can give their forwards trouble (with our quickness).”

Bangor has four double-figure scorers in Lynch (17 ppg), Soucie (14 ppg), Clark (12 ppg) and Shawn Doll (12.1 ppg). Adams sparks Mt. Blue, which also looks to Ryan Leib (17 ppg) and Justin Franson (12 ppg) for scoring.

Old Town looked unbeatable in the first half of its game against Cony in the quarterfinals, but had to reach down deep to hold off a strong comeback by the Rams. Coach Marty Clark’s 15-4 Indians will face a tourney-seasoned team in Coach Mike McGee’s 14-5 Bulldogs.

This game will feature a good balance of size and quickness by both teams. Old Town has plenty of inside strength with 6-5 Casey Costigan (17 ppg) and 6-5 John L’Heureux (13 ppg), but Lawrence counters with 6-6 Lenny Cole (18 ppg) and 6-4 Scott Walker or 6-3 Chris Massey (12 ppg).

Chris Arsenault’s elusive driving moves and outside shooting paced Old Town in the quarterfinals, but Chad Blake can also score from long range. The ‘Dogs look to Chris Denis (11 ppg) and Mike Harris from outside.

Defense has also been a major factor in the success of both squads, which have limited opponents to 59 ppg. The Indians led the Big East Conference in that category, while Lawrence was second in the KVAC.