BANGOR – Three hours after tri-captain and leading scorer David Chrisos finally woke up from an induced coma at Eastern Maine Medical Center, his teammates awakened the most devastating press Bangor Christian has utilized all season.

The result was unflagging defensive pressure that helped force 31 turnovers – 21 in the first half – and led the Patriots to a 79-54 Eastern Maine Class D quarterfinal victory over Washburn at the Bangor Auditorium late Monday morning.

Bangor Christian, 18-2, will meet East Grand of Danforth in a 3:35 p.m. Thursday semifinal matchup.

The news of their fallen teammate’s rapidly improving condition seemed to energize the Patriots as they ran off 15 unanswered points in the second half of the first quarter to take a 14-point lead that would get as small as 12 and as large as 32 the rest of the way.

“That [news] just did something for us and I told [David’s father] Don that he’d have to go relay that to the kids and pump them up,” said head coach Gary Colson.

Eddie Carey led BC’s charge with 17 points, three rebounds, five assists, and four steals.

“It was good to see Eddie come in all jacked up and ready to play,” Colson said.

If Carey is the emotional catalyst, 6-foot-5 senior center and tri-captain Pat McCleary is the steadying influence.

“He’s our rock. He’s not about to let us fall down,” Colson said.

“It’s our job as captains to focus on basketball and we had to make sure the team’s focus was on that, too,” said McCleary, who finished with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks.

Junior guard Greg Patterson drew the starting job in place of Chrisos, who was severely injured in a car accident Thursday, and was equal to the task with 11 points and four steals. Guards Kyle Bradford and Josh Madden chipped in with 12 and nine points, respectively. Madden also had four assists, four steals, and five rebounds.

Washburn outrebounded the Pats 47-38, but couldn’t overcome the turnovers (BC committed 13 fewer). Junior forward Dan Buckley led the 10-10 Beavers with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Darren Pesut had 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Jesse Maynard had 12 rebounds.

PATRIOTS 79, BEAVERS 54

Washburn boys (10-10) Bangor Christian (18-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Worsley 2 3 0 2 5 D.J.McCleary 0 5 0

Carter 0 0 0 0 0 Madden 3 14 2 9

Bigbee 0 0 0 0 0 Wilson 1 1 0 2

Bagley 1 4 0 0 2 Ossinger 0 0 0

Buckley 7 12 4 9 18 Conley 2 5 0 4

Carter 0 0 0 0 0 Cole 2 2 0 4

Vaughn 2 9 1 2 5 Patterson 5 8 11

C.Pesut 0 0 0 0 0 Putnam 1 5 0 2

D.Pesut 5 11 0 0 10 Bradford 5 10 12

Thompson 1 3 3 4 5 Doten 1 2 2

Maynard 1 7 4 6 6 Pinkham 1 4 0 2

Milton 1 3 1 2 3 Sobey 2 4 0 4

P.McCleary 4 7 10

Carey 6 14 5 17

Totals 20 52 13 24 54 33 81 10 16 79

Washburn 12 25 35 54

Bangor Christian 26 54 66 79

3-pt. goals: Washburn (1-11): Worsley 1-2, Bagley 0-1, Buckley 0-1, Thompson 0-1, Maynard 0-1, Vaughn 0-5; Bangor Christian (3-15): Patterson 1-3, Bradford 1-3, Madden 1-4, Putnam 0-1, Conley 0-2, D.J. McCleary 0-2