NEWPORT – John Bapst coach Jason Mills went into Wednesday night’s Class A preliminary playoff contest with three big problems.

Their names: Ryan McLellan … Trenton Estes … and Luke Hayden.

In two regular-season losses to Nokomis, you see, those three players had combined to score 89 percent of the points – 113 of 127 – John Bapst gave up to the Warriors.

On Wednesday, Mills’ crew did better … for three quarters. But when the fourth quarter rolled around, the three-headed monster got its revenge.

McLellan, Estes and Hayden accounted for every one of the 23 fourth-quarter points the Warriors used to blow open a six-point game and post a 72-56 win.

Nokomis coach Jim DiFrederico said that what happened before that fourth quarter was what really helped pave the way to the victory: As McLellan struggled to get looks at the hoop while being shadowed by Wes Day in a box-and-one set, other players made big shots.

“Ryan only scored one basket in the first half, but I’m saying to my coaching staff, ‘This is good, because the other guys are getting involved. That’s gonna be the difference coming down the stretch.’

“Because we knew that we would get Ryan more shots in the second half, just with a couple of little adjustments.”

That’s exactly what happened.

McLellan scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, Estes added four of his 13, and the 6-foot-6 Hayden put an exclamation point on a dominant night with nine fourth-quarter points of his own.

“Really, it was the fact that we looked up at the scoreboard and realized we were only up a couple, and I guess instinct took over,” McLellan said of the fourth-quarter surge. “We had to put ’em away, because they’re a good team when it’s close.”

No. 2 Nokomis improves to 15-4 and earns a quarterfinal invitation to the Bangor Auditorium Friday at 4:40 p.m. against No. 3 Mt. Blue of Farmington.

No. 7 John Bapst of Bangor finishes 9-11.

Hayden finished with 25 points, nine rebounds and a block, and said he figured it was his turn to have a big game.

“Their big men are great, they’re tough, and they play defense well,” Hayden said. “Day was playing good defense on Ryan, and I knew someone had to step it up. Everyone else did, but I knew this was probably about the time I should step up.”

Estes handed out 10 assists. Arnie Ellis and Justin Veazie pitched in with eight points apiece.

The Crusaders played Nokomis even for 18 minutes, but the Warriors regrouped and took a 49-43 lead after three quarters.

John Bapst trailed just 55-50 with 5:30 to play before Nokomis reeled off 12 straight points to put the game away. Five of those points came as a result of McLellan drives, while Hayden scored five and Estes had a bucket.

John Bapst was led by seniors Zev Myerowitz and Bryan Snyder, who tossed in 16 points apiece. Ben Baldus added nine.

DiFrederico said that in the second half, a few tactical changes gave McLellan more room to operate.

“We were gonna start setting some high screens in the second half, where we [had been] running him off the baseline,” DiFrederico. “That just really changed things, and Luke opened it up with the inside game, and the kickout, too.”

WARRIORS 72, CRUSADERS 56

John Bapst (9-11) Nokomis (15-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Jellison 1 4 0 0 2 R. McLellan 6 10 2 4 14

Baldus 4 9 1 2 9 Estes 5 11 13

Snyder 6 11 1 2 16 Bradstreet 0 0

Means 0 0 0 0 0 Elllis 3 5 8

Day 1 3 4 4 7 Veazie 3 10 0 8

Rand 0 1 0 0 0 Buzanoski 0 0 0

Connole 0 3 0 0 0 Horr 0 0 0

Tremble 1 3 0 0 2 Hayden 9 19 25

D. Myerowitz 2 4 0 0 4 Martin 0 0 0

Z. Myerowitz 7 16 2 3 16 Graves 0 0 0

Irish 0 0 0 0 0 J. McLellan 0 0

Browley 0 0 0 0 0 Mullis 2 3 4

Totals 22 54 8 11 56 Totals 28 58 13 16 72

John Bapst 7 28 43 56

Nokomis 13 30 49 72

3-pt. goals: John Bapst (4-12): Jellison 0-1, Snyder 3-5, Day 1-2, Connole 0-1, Tremble 0-1, Z. Myerowitz 0-2; Nokomis (3-12): R. McLellan 0-1, Estes 1-3, Veazie 2-8

Attendance: 1,000 (est.)