BANGOR – For most basketball teams there are no secrets at the end of the regular season.

Wisdom coach Mim Gagnon had one more left for Southern Aroostook in a Tuesday morning quarterfinal matchup at the Bangor Auditorium between the No. 4 Pioneers of St. Agatha and the No. 5 Warriors of Dyer Brook.

Joy Gervais, a junior center who hasn’t had more than five rebounds in a game this season, came off the bench to grab 18 – 10 of them offensive – to go with 18 points in Wisdom’s 51-39 win.

“I knew Joy would be the key to the game,” Gagnon said.

Wisdom’s win propels the Pioneers to a semifinal matchup with No. 1 Central Aroostook of Mars Hill. The 18-1 Panthers, whose only loss this season was to Wisdom, eliminated No. 8 Van Buren 63-38 Tuesday afternoon.

Senior guard Tracy Guerrette, who is definitely not a secret in Class D, led all scorers with 22 points, including eight in the third quarter. She also tallied 12 rebounds.

“Basically we tried to contain [Guerrette] as much as we could,” SAHS coach Jon Porter. “But we didn’t know about [Gervais].”

SAHS played Wisdom tight through much of the first three quarters, taking a 8-5 lead with 2:18 left in the first period. The Pioneers came back at the end of the quarter and had as much as a six-point lead in the second. The Warriors got close at the end of the half when Kim Collier hit a 3-pointer to cut Wisdom’s lead to 20-17.

Collier scored 10 points in the third quarter to tie it up with 35 seconds left in the third period. But Wisdom’s defense shut down Southern Aroostook in the fourth quarter.

Kim Collier led the Warriors with 17 points. Sue Greenlaw tallied the team-high eight rebounds.

Tuesday afternoon, a well-balanced offense and an aggressive defense overcame a messy start and Central Aroostook’s girls notched their fourth straight quarterfinal win.

“We were way too sloppy,” said CAHS coach Julie Prescott. “I think the kids were really nervous and anxious and we came out and committed a lot of fouls.”

The Panthers committed seven fouls in the first five minutes to put Van Buren in the bonus on the foul line and another three to reach the double bonus. Fortunately for them, the Crusaders couldn’t hit their shots.

Despite shooting 5-for-17 from the line and committing 22 of their 33 turnovers in the first half, the Crusaders found themselves down just five points (21-16) with 2:21 left in the second quarter.

But the Panthers altered their battle plan and started attacking the lane, drawing fouls and converting easy layups en route to a 10-2 run which stretched into the third quarter. A 15-2 run late in the quarter put the game away.

The big beneficiary of the focus on the paint was Panthers center Erin Whited, who led the team with 11 points, seven in the second half.

“The big girl underneath was a big factor. When they got it inside to her, she boxed out and killed us on second and third shots,” said coach Wayne Martin, whose Crusaders never led after the game’s opening two minutes.

When Whited wasn’t scoring, Jamie Alexander (10 points, 10 rebounds, six assists) was, or passing to someone who would, like Andrea Lunn (10 points) or Brandy Mahan (nine).

“The major thing about them is with most teams, you have to prepare for one or two girls,” said Martin. “With Central, you have to prepare for all 12 of them.”

Denise Marquis led the 10-8 Crusaders with 14 points and 10 boards. Kristi Wright had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Pioneers 51, Warriors 39

So. Aroostook (14-5) Wisdom girls (16-3)

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

Chambers 1 2 0 0 2 Paradis 0 1 0 0 0

Collier 6 32 1 2 17 K. Cyr 0 0 0 5 0

Greenlaw 2 5 0 0 4 L. Gervais 2 4 0 0 4

Swallow 2 5 0 0 4 Guerrette 9 22 3 6 22

Diekman 0 0 0 0 0 Pelletier 0 0 1 2 1

Lyons 0 0 0 0 0 T. Cyr 1 7 1 2 4

Tarr 2 4 0 0 4 J. Derosier 1 3 0 0 2

Edkins 0 0 0 0 0 J. Gervais 9 21 0 2 18

Willigar 4 15 0 0 8

Long 0 0 0 0 0

Smith 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 17 63 1 2 39 Totals 22 58 5 17 51

Southern Aroostook 8 17 34 39

Wisdom 12 20 36 51

3-pt. goals: Southern Aroostook (4-10): Collier 4-10; Wisdom (2-7): Guerrette 1-4, T. Cyr 1-3

Panthers 63, Crusaders 38

Van Buren girls (10-8) Cent. Aroostook (18-1)

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

K. Ayotte 1 10 2 4 4 Bell 0 1 0 0 0

LaPlante 0 1 0 0 0 Pratt 0 3 0 0 0

Wright 2 9 6 8 11 Long 2 4 0 0 4

Gagnon 2 4 0 1 4 J. Alexander 5 13 0 2 10

Marquis 4 9 6 14 14 T. Alexander 2 6 2 3 6

Ouellette 1 4 1 2 3 Lunn 5 9 0 0 10

Sirois 0 1 0 0 0 Whited 4 9 3 4 11

Lagasse 0 1 0 0 0 Lundeen 0 1 0 0 0

Morin 1 2 0 0 2 Mahan 4 9 1 2 9

J. Ayotte 0 0 0 0 0 Boyd 2 2 0 0 4

M. Parent 0 3 0 2 0 Dyer 3 6 0 0 7

Robinson 1 3 0 0 2

Totals 11 44 15 31 38 Totals 28 66 6 11 63

Van Buren 11 16 26 38

Central Aroostook 16 30 49 63

3-pt. goals: Van Buren (1-11): Wright 1-4, Sirois 0-1, Parent 0-1, K. Ayotte 0-5; Central Aroostook (1-5): Dyer 1-1, Lunn 0-1, J. Alexander 0-1, Long 0-1, Pratt 0-1