BANGOR – Monday night’s Eastern Class D girls quarterfinal between Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook and Fort Fairfield was a game, but resembled chess more than basketball at times.

Each coach’s strategy was adjusted to by the other team, players adapted to defensive changes, and each team kept trying to stay one step ahead of the other.

In the end, the second-seeded Southern Aroostook Warriors put the No. 7 Tigers in checkmate and came away with a 61-49 victory thanks to solid defense and rebounding and impressive shooting.

The 17-2 Warriors will meet No. 3 Lee Academy, which dispatched No. 11 Central Aroostook of Mars Hill 74-54, in a 7:05 p.m. Thursday semifinal game.

Monday night, the Warriors shot 51.3 percent from the floor, outrebounded the Tigers 44-22, and harassed the Tigers into committing 13 of their 19 total turnovers in the second half.

The game was tight until senior guard Nicki Lyons gave her Warriors some breathing room with three straight 3-pointers and four in a five-minute span to turn a 9-7 Tigers lead into a 21-13 SAHS lead.

“I think that really got us excited, gave us some confidence, and made them change their defense, which we took advantage of,” said Lyons, who had 20 points and five assists.

Ironically, Fort Fairfield’s defensive change hurt Lyons, who wouldn’t score, let alone shoot again until 55 seconds had elapsed in the fourth quarter. The Tigers junked their 1-3-1 zone defense and used a box-and-one defense for the first time this season and targeted it at Lyons, who wouldn’t score again until she hit a free throw with 7:05 left in the game.

That was OK, though, as sophomore guard Mindy Watson and senior center Tiffany Hartin picked up the slack. Watson scored nine points in the fourth quarter and 10 of her 16 points in the second half. Hartin had six in the fourth and seven of her 11 in the second half. She also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Junior forward Danielle Searles led the Tigers with 12 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Brittany McLaughlin came off the bench for 10 points.

When trying to defend 17-3 Lee, you start with Shelby Pickering. The question is, how do you slow her down?

Judging from her 35-point, 23-rebound performance, the question is still unanswered.

Monday afternoon’s performance also illustrated another unsettling fact about the Pandas: Pickering isn’t the only player you have to worry about.

“No matter who gets the rebound, they can dribble it up and that’s a key thing for us,” said Lee coach Carrie Goodhue.

They can score and pass too.

Kristin Hersom dished out a game-high nine assists – most to Pickering – and scored 10 points to pace Lee. Fellow junior forward Samantha Cole scored 14 points.

“All the girls step up and they can all play their game when they need to,” said Pickering, who scored six of Lee’s first 12 points.

Lee got off to a sluggish start as both teams were turning the ball over, but an 11-3 run late in the second quarter helped the Pandas seize a comfortable lead (35-22) that wouldn’t dip below eight the rest of the way.

The Panthers, who finish the season 16-4, cut Lee’s lead to 53-45 with an 11-0 run to finish the third quarter, but a 12-4 Lee run to start the fourth blunted the Panthers’ charge.

Lee had 27 turnovers to CAHS’s 26, but outrebounded the Panthers 20-10 on the offensive boards and 45-36 overall.

“We got in the habit of watching the ball on rebounding and not boxing out,” said CAHS coach Craig MacFarline. “We played dyslexic basketball for awhile on defense.”

Junior forward Lindsay Arnold led the Panthers with 17 points, while Ashley Caron came off the bench for 12 points. Sophomore Alicia Rideout had nine rebounds off the bench and senior Gabrielle Smith made six assists.

WARRIORS 61, TIGERS 49

Fort Fairfield (13-7) So. Aroostook (17-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Jackson 0 1 0 0 0 T.Hartin 5 11

Esancy 0 0 0 0 0 A.Hartin 0 0

Arato 0 0 0 0 0 Hardy 0 1 0

Gardner 3 9 0 0 6 Collier 0 0 0

McLaughlin 4 8 0 0 10 McLaughlin 0 1

Butler 4 16 0 0 8 N.Lyons 4 5 10 20

K.Searles 0 2 0 0 0 Clark 0 0 0

Churchill 2 5 0 0 4 B.Crandall 3 6

O’Neal 1 4 0 1 2 McGary 0 4 3

DeMerchant 1 2 1 1 3 A.Crandall 0 0

Langworthy 2 7 0 0 4 Watson 6 14 16

D.Searles 4 7 4 7 12 L.Lyons 0 0 0

Dickinson 0 0 0

Charette 2 3 4

Totals 21 61 5 9 49 20 39 17 28 61

Fort Fairfield 9 27 33 49

So. Aroostook 13 31 33 61

3-pt. goals ? Fort Fairfield (2-13): McLaughlin 2-3, K. Searles 0-1, Gardner 0-1, Butler 0-8; Southern Aroostook (4-7): Lyons 4-5, Watson 0-2

PANDAS 74, PANTHERS 54

Central Aroostook (13-7) Lee Academy (17-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Caron 5 7 0 1 12 Mallett 2 4 4

Smith 2 7 1 2 6 Moors 0 2 0

Barton 0 1 0 0 0 Pickering 13 21 9 10 35

Rideout 4 8 0 2 8 Hanscom 2 10 4

Graham 0 0 0 0 0 Moors 0 2 0

Collins 0 3 0 0 0 Hersom 5 16 10

Fletcher 2 8 1 4 5 Cole 6 9 14

Carvell 1 4 1 2 3 Ham 0 1 0

Gosselin 1 3 1 2 3 Gifford 3 9 7

Michaud 7 17 3 4 17 Read 0 0 0

Brewer 0 0 0 0 0

DeGraw 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 22 58 7 17 54 31 74 12 18 74

Central Aroostook 14 24 45 54

Lee Academy 18 37 53 74

3-pt. goals: CAHS (3-10): Caron 2-4, Smith 1-3, Collins 0-1, Gosselin 0-1, Michaud 0-1; Lee (0-1): Hersom 0-1