BANGOR – Things were not looking good for the Shead High Tigerettes midway through the second quarter of their Eastern Maine Class D girls basketball semifinal against eighth-seeded Katahdin on Thursday night.

The Cougars already had a 22-12 lead – thanks to three early 3-pointers apiece from Brandi Violette and Krystle McMoarn – and Shead star Samantha Davis was sidelined with three fouls.

But the Tigerettes regrouped, pulled even by halftime, and controlled the second half to earn a 51-43 victory at the Bangor Auditorium.

Fourth-seeded Shead of Eastport (16-5) will face second-seeded Lee Academy (19-2) in the regional final Saturday morning. Lee edged Hodgdon 43-42 earlier Thursday night.

Shead outscored 13-8 Katahdin of Stacyville 10-0 late in the second quarter, a run started by Taunya Cook’s inside basket with 3:12 left in the period.

Then Shead coach Bob Davis took a slight gamble, returning his daughter Samantha to the game with her three fouls.

The move worked, as Samantha Davis fed Vanessa McPhail for a layup and then hit a 3-pointer of her own. When Katy Constant made another 3-point with two seconds left, the Tigerettes went to the break locked in a 22-22 tie and carrying a huge dose of momentum – particularly on defense after finally contesting Katahdin’s perimeter shooters.

The Cougars never made another 3-pointer.

“Our defense was really not very good in the beginning, so we knew we had to step it up because Katahdin has very good shooters,” said Samantha Davis. “We had to make them go to the middle, because in the first half they only scored a few points that weren’t on 3’s. We had to go out after their shooters.”

Shead took the lead for good with a 9-0 run midway through the third quarter. Davis had two drives through the middle of the Katahdin defense, then fed Vicki Morrison for a basket. Skylar Richardson followed with a free throw and then a basket after grabbing an offensive rebound to give the Tigerettes a 33-26 lead with 3:15 left in the period.

Davis, one of only two seniors on the Shead roster, didn’t draw her fourth foul until just 4:26 remained in the game, and helped preserve the lead with seven points over the final eight minutes of play.

“I just had to play smart, and if someone was coming at me, I had to let them through,” she said. “I just had to be smart.”

Katahdin did creep within 38-36 on two K.C. Duffy-Stanley free throws with 5:29 left in the game, but Shead sophomore Laureta Ricker hit perhaps the biggest basket of the game, a 3-pointer off a Davis feed, to restore the Tigerettes to a five-point edge.

“Laureta’s done it three or four times this year,” said Bob Davis. “When teams play good defense on Samantha, Laureta has really stepped up for us.”

Samantha Davis led Shead with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Ricker scored 12 points and Cook added 10 points and nine boards.

McMoarn and Violette each scored 11 points for Katahdin.

TIGERETTES 51, COUGARS 43

Katahdin (13-8) Shead (16-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Ja. Green 1 9 2 2 4 Pottle 0 0 0

Violette 4 14 0 0 11 McPhail 2 6 4

Duffy-Stanley 1 7 3 6 5 Morrison 2

McMoarn 4 11 0 0 11 Richardson 1 3

Martin 0 1 0 0 0 Ricker 4 8 12

Je. Green 0 1 0 2 0 Cox 0 0 0

Albert 0 0 0 0 0 Cummings 0 0

Smallwood 0 1 0 0 0 Davis 5 17 16

Bates 0 0 0 0 0 Murphy 0 0 0

Gallagher 1 1 0 0 2 Constant 1 4

Robinson 0 5 2 2 2 Cook 4 6 10

Hill 3 5 2 2 8 Martinez 0 0 0

Totals 14 55 9 14 43 18 54 10 16 51

Katahdin 14 22 30 43

Shead 12 22 36 51

3-pt. goals ? Katahdin (6-18): McMoarn 3-5, Violette 3-9, Duffy-Stanley 0-1, Ja. Green 0-3; Shead: (5-16): Ricker 3-6, Constant 1-2, Davis 1-8