BANGOR – A few free throws, an offensive rebound or two, and there would have been yet another upset in the Eastern Maine girls basketball tournament.

“We were worried at halftime,” said Calais junior Tracie Eagan. “The whole team was so down on ourselves.”

But the top-ranked Blue Devils pulled themselves together, tipping No. 8 Narraguagus 50-44 Wednesday morning in an EM Class C quarterfinal at the Bangor Auditorium.

There was an upset in the early quarterfinal as No. 5 Central of Corinth knocked off No. 4 Washington Academy 67-46. The more experienced Red Devils got 28 points from Jenny Rollins.

The No. 1 Blue Devils will face Central in a semifinal Friday at 8:35 p.m.

In the second game, there were eight lead changes in the second half after the Knights of Harrington started the third quarter with a 25-24 lead.

They managed to hang on to a 41-40 edge after Liz Grant (20 points) hit a short jumper off a pass from Megan Sprague with 4:12 left in the game, but Calais freshman Ashley Allen made a free throw to tie it up again and Eagan put in a driving shot in the lane as the Devils regained the lead for good. Calais was 5-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final three minutes. Narraguagus was 3-for-11 in the fourth quarter.

“Missed foul shots was crucial for us,” Narraguagus coach Steven Noyes said. “That’s what turned it from a see-saw, last-possession game to a six-point game. We had chances.”

Noyes was pleased with his team’s 3-2 matchup zone defense, which limited 6-1 Calais center Danielle O’Brien and 5-7 forward Darcey Gillespie. Both girls got into foul trouble and the Blue Devils turned the ball over trying to force it inside.

“It was tough because they were packing it in,” O’Brien said. “It was hard to get the ball and know what I was doing with all the pressure. … We knew ‘Guagus was really tough, but we came together as a team and really took it to them.”

Liz Grant, the 5-9 Narraguagus center, got the best of the matchup inside with 20 points and seven rebounds.

The Blue Devils went an uncharacteristic 14-for-29 from the free-throw line.

“I don’t know what it was, the fans, nerves, everything,” Eagan said.

Courtney Taylor chipped in with 14 points for Calais, which forced 17 turnovers with its full-court man-to-man press.

In the first game, coach Frank Johnson starts just one senior with three sophomores and a freshman. It made for a lot of inexperience and nerves among the Raiders, who turned the ball over 26 times.

“I think they had more experience and that makes a difference up here,” Johnson said.

WA had a sound defensive plan which entailed a triangle-and-2 defense with defenders on Rollins and forward Caitlin Elliott. Elliott had a quiet game, but other Central players stepped up in her place.

Danielle Collins scored 12 points – all in the first half – and Shawna Bell added 10 more.

“[Triangle-and-2] doesn’t really work because we know we can look to other people,” Collins said. “We have other players that can step up and pick up the slack.”

Johnson said he scouted a Central game and saw a team play a triangle-and-2 with some good results, so he thought the Raiders should try it, too.

“It did hold the Elliott girl down but Rollins is going to score,” Johnson said. “Unless she’s off, she’s going to get her 20 [points].”

The Red Devils had 11-point leads at the end of the second and third quarters, and really poured it on in the fourth. WA got the lead down to 10 but Elliott hit two straight jumpers and Rollins put in two free throws, and the lead was 16 points with 4:44 left.

Mary Mawhinney led Washington Academy with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while freshman Ashley Tilton contributed 10 points.

BLUE DEVILS 50, KNIGHTS 44

Narraguagus (10-10) Calais (16-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Barbee 3 17 3 6 9 Smith 3 13 6

Kennedy 0 0 0 0 0 Eagan 7 17 13 19

A. Johnson 0 1 1 2 1 O’Brien 3 4 6

H. Torrey 0 1 0 0 0 Taylor 4 10 14

Sprague 2 3 2 2 6 Gillespie 0 0

Farren 1 1 0 0 2 Brown 0 0 0

Tenney 1 3 0 0 2 Mingo 0 6 2

Tenan 2 4 0 4 4 Allen 0 1 3

Grant 7 13 6 11 20

Totals 16 43 12 25 44 17 52 14 29 50

Narraguagus 8 25 37 44

Calais 18 24 38 50

3-pt. goals ? Narraguagus (0-3): Barbee 0-3; Calais (2-13): Taylor 1-1, Eagan 1-6, Smith 0-6

RED DEVILS 67, RAIDERS 46

Central (16-4) Washington Acad. (12-7)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Collins 4 10 4 4 12 Livingstone 1 3

Davis 1 6 1 2 3 E. Govoni 2 7

Elliott 2 4 0 0 4 Rushforth 0 1

Jones 0 0 0 0 0 Finn 0 0 0

Rollins 10 22 7 12 28 Mawhinney 6 17

Underhill 1 2 4 6 6 Huffman 1 3 2

Daniel 2 5 0 1 4 White 0 0 0

Bell 3 8 3 4 10 Tilton 3 7 4 10

Long 0 0 0 0 0 Look 2 4 0 4

Griffiths 0 0 0 0 0 Hall 0 0 0

Libby 0 1 0 0 0 L. Govoni 1 2

Snowdeal 0 0 0

Ashby 0 0 0 0

Totals 23 58 19 29 67 16 47 12 23 46

Central 22 34 52 67

Washington Academy 15 23 41 46

3-pt. goals ? Central (2-4): Rollins 1-1, Bell 1-3; Washington Academy (2-7): Livingstone 1-1, Mawhinney 1-3, L. Govoni 0-1