It was their first meeting this season at a neutral site after they had swapped home-court victories during the regular season. But when the final gun went off, Wisdom of St. Agatha emerged the best-of-three winner, 45-36, over East Grand of Danforth.

The No. 4 Pioneers, 14-5, head into a 2:05 p.m. Friday Eastern Maine girls Class D semifinal with top-ranked Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook. The No. 5 Vikings finished the year at 11-8.

There were two keys to the Pioneers’ victory: scoring three-deep in double figures; and denying the ball inside to the Vikings.

Wisdom’s 5-foot-10 senior center, Erin Killarney, led the way with 12 points, but 11 each came from Michelle Paradis and Danielle Lavertu.

Wisdom coach Mike Aldrete, happy to make the semis, said his team regularly depends on Killarney and Paradis to score, but that it was a big plus to have Lavertu in double figures.

The 5-foot-4 senior guard had a big second quarter, opening up the scoring for her cold-shooting Pioneers by driving the lane and scoring off offensive rebounds and stealing the ball under the Vikings’ basket and converting the turnovers into points at her end.

Shelly Page, a 5-10 senior center, was the lone Viking in double figures with 14 points.

With her team trailing 38-24 heading into the fourth quarter, she helped East Grand make a run at Wisdom, scoring two straight baskets off steals as East Grand’s full-court pressure rattled the Pioneers. The Vikings drew within nine, 39-30, midway throug the period.

But the full-court press took its toll on East Grand, sending sophomore starter Mandy Shain to the bench with five fouls at 3:25 of the fourth, and Desjardins’ two foul shots put the Pioneers up by 12.

A Page jumper in the lane and a bomb from the right by Danielle Shay made it 42-34 Wisdom, but even a Page basket off a steal with 38 seconds left was not enough as the Pioneers closed out the game with Paradis on the line.

Tied 6-all in a tentative first quarter, Page controlled the boards in the second quarter and the Vikings were down by just five, 19-14, at the half.

But Wisdom double-teamed Page in the third, shutting her out, and the Pioneers’ 2-3 zone defense got the ball into the hands of Killarney and Paradis who combined for 14 of Wisdom’s 19 points in the period.

Pioneers 45, Vikings 36

East Grand girls Wisdom

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

L. Shain 22 4 2 0 8 Lavertu 9 5 1 0 11

R. Shain 0 0 0 0 0 Desjardins 9 3 6 2 8

Shay 9 4 0 0 8 Daigle 10 1 2 1 3

M. Shain 8 2 0 0 4 Lerman 0 0 0 0 0

Page 17 6 4 2 14 Killarney 12 6 0 0 12

Thornton 4 0 0 0 0 Paradis 11 4 6 3 11

Brackett 1 1 0 0 2

Totals 61 17 7 2 36 Totals 51 19 15 6 45

East Grand 6 14 24 36

Wisdom 6 19 38 45

3-pt. goals: East Grand (0-1): L. Shain 0-1; Wisdom (1-2): Lavertu 1-1, Daigle 0-1