HERMON – There were plenty of smiles among the players and fans mingling on the court after the Hermon girls basketball team’s Eastern Maine Class B preliminary game Tuesday night. The Hawks, who are heading back to the Bangor Auditorium for the second straight season, logged an upset in the quarterfinals there last season.

But there was also some frustration for the Hawks. No. 6 Hermon had a 20-point lead against No. 11 Maine Central Institute at one point in Tuesday’s prelim, but had to fight off the charging Huskies of Pittsfield for a 60-55 victory.

Hermon, now 15-4, will face No. 3 Belfast (15-3) Friday at 7:35 p.m. in the tourney quarterfinals.

“We’re definitely going to come out more hungry in the next game,” senior guard Marissa McLeod said.

Malerie Hall paced the Hawks with 21 points and 21 rebounds, and had a huge 9-for-10 effort from the free-throw line in the second half.

“I think we got a little headstrong, thinking we’re going to win, up by 17,” said the junior forward. “I think they came out pumped and we kind of relaxed.”

MCI, which was 2-16 last season, finished with a 9-10 record.

Hermon had a 17-point lead at halftime but MCI drew closer in the third quarter, outscoring the Hawks 34-16.

MCI’s Kasey Dodge scored 11 of her team-high 20 points in the third quarter, including two three-pointers, and freshman Victoria Huff went 4-for-4 from the field.

“They came back, hit those [3-pointers] and I guess we weren’t ready for [Dodge],” Hermon coach Margie Deabay said. “She came alive. They really fought back and hit some good shots.”

The Huskies didn’t let up in the fourth, although the Hawks were able to answer with either a basket or free throws.

MCI’s Ashley Currier knocked down a 3-pointer early to make it 53-45. Hall responded with a layup. The Huskies cut the lead to eight points again later in the fourth when Huff hit a jumper but Hall made another free throw and put back an offensive rebound.

Dodge made two free throws with 24 seconds left to make it a five-point game.

“We just dug too big a hole and let them jump out,” Huskies coach Bill Pullen said. “Their big kids did a great job.”

MCI started out in a 1-2-2 zone but abandoned that early in the first as the 6-foot Hall and 5-10 Shannon Wiggin didn’t have any problems going inside. They each had four points and combined for 11 rebounds in the first quarter.

The Hawks had a commanding 24-11 rebounding margin in the first half, but only out-rebounded the Huskies 18-15 in the second half.

“We adjusted at halftime, we knew they were going to pound the ball in so I put Megan Ferland on [Wiggin] and we did a much better job,” Pullen said.

Cassie White added 15 points and Wiggin had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Hermon stayed in its man-to-man defense with Cassie White guarding Macky Sullivan (11 rebounds) and Melissa McLeod on Huff.

“We put Cassie on her, she’s our best defender, and we shut her down,” said McLeod, who had nine assists, four rebounds and four steals.

HAWKS 60, HUSKIES 55

No. 11 MCI (9-10) No. 6 Hermon (15-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

M. Dodge 0 1 0 0 0 McLeod 1 8 2

J. Holt 2 3 0 0 4 Dobbins 3 10 8

M. Holt 0 0 0 0 0 White 7 11 15

Currier 2 9 2 5 8 Wiggin 4 10 12

K. Dodge 5 9 7 11 20 Hall 6 14 10 21

Sullivan 1 7 0 0 2 Macdonald 1 2

Ferland 1 6 2 4 4 Gibson 0 1 0

V. Huff 7 12 3 4 17

Totals 18 47 14 24 55 Totals 22 58 15 22 60

MCI 3 16 40 55

Hermon 17 33 49 60

3-pt. goals ? MCI (5-14): K. Dodge 3-7, Currier 2-5, Sullivan 0-1, V. Huff 0-1; Hermon (1-7): Dobbins 1-3, White 0-1, McLeod 0-3

Attendance: 300 (est.)