BANGOR – When you play against a Mike McGee-coached Lawrence squad, nothing is ever easy.

Not even if you’re the No. 1 seed – as Oxford Hills of South Paris was in Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class A boys quarterfinal. Not even if it seems that you’ve blown the game open with a 16-1 third-quarter run – as Oxford Hills did.

And not even if you’re leading by seven with three minutes to go, and you’ve dominated play for the entire second half.

Oxford Hills did all those things … shot 52.7 percent from the floor … and still had to out-grit the gritty Bulldogs down the stretch en route to a 56-54 win at the Bangor Auditorium.

The 18-1 Vikings take on No. 4 Bangor (15-5) in Friday night’s 8:35 p.m. regional semifinal. Bangor advanced by topping Mt. Ararat of Topsham 64-51 in another Saturday quarterfinal.

Lawrence led by nine at the half before Oxford Hills got rolling early in the third. One key cog was 6-foot-5 senior Corey Tielinen, who was held to three shots and two points before intermission before finishing with 16 points and six rebounds.

“We came out and started setting some screens for people to get them open, and we got some passing going, got some open looks, and we started hitting,” Tielinen said.

The Vikings led 47-40 with 3:11 to play before Lawrence’s Nate Lambert nailed the first of his three fourth-quarter 3-pointers.

Lawrence, which led by as many as nine in the first half, pulled within two three times – at 50-48, 54-52, and 56-54, and got within one once, but was never able to pull even down the stretch.

The Vikes made seven of eight free throws over the final three minutes, and Thomas Kothe scored a layup off a full-court pass over the top of Lawrence’s press with 12 seconds to play. That play pushed the cushion back to 56-52 and essentially iced it for the Vikes.

“Usually with Oxford Hills, [when they get up by 10] that goes to 20,” McGee said. “We were able to whittle that back down to two and one, but we left a couple guys open on our pressure, and that hurt.”

Matt McDonnell scored 12 and Leif Kothe added 11 more for the Vikings.

Lambert tallied 21 and made all four of his 3-point attempts for Lawrence. Trevor Woods scored 15.

In Saturday’s late quarterfinal, Bangor standout Aaron Gallant and senior low-post force Mike Prentiss each spent the final 12 minutes of the first half on the bench with two fouls apiece … and their absence was noticeable.

“I went out there and didn’t play real smart in the first couple minutes and picked up two quick ones,” Gallant said. “The way coach [Roger] Reed goes, if you get two in the first half you’re coming and sitting out. So I knew that for a quarter and a half, all I could do is watch.”

After Bangor struggled to a 25-23 halftime lead, the duo returned.

They made up for lost time.

Gallant scored 15 of his 16 points in the second half and had a hand in six of seven Bangor hoops in the third quarter.

And Prentiss? The 6-foot leaper chased rebounds with abandon, pulled down eight of his 11 boards in the final 16 minutes and – along with classmate P.J. Dowe – helped give the Rams an inside presence they’d lacked.

One beneficiary of the return of Prentiss and Gallant: Chad Astle, who nailed five of nine 3-pointers, including a 3-for-4 effort after the break, en route to 17 points. Jordan Heath added 10 points for the Rams, while Dowe had 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

“I thought Astle came up big for us, and once we got our troops in there, I thought we handled it pretty well,” Reed said.

After the teams traded short spurts early in the third, the score was tied at 29-all with 3:49 to go.

Astle kicked off a 9-0 period-ending run with a 3-pointer off a Gallant feed, and Bangor opened the fourth period with a 15-2 run to make it 56-34 with 4:48 to go.

Colin Meyn led the Eagles with 24 points and nine rebounds, while Todd Strong scored nine more.

RAMS 64, EAGLES 51

Mount Ararat (12-8) Bangor (15-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Ouellette 1 6 0 0 3 Heath 3 10 10

Colina 4 9 0 4 8 Clark 0 0 0

Paine 0 1 0 0 0 Gallant 6 9 16

White 0 0 3 5 3 Dowe 3 8 10

Cantrell 0 2 0 0 0 Astle 6 11 17

Strong 3 7 1 3 9 Prentiss 1 3

Bode 1 13 2 2 4 DeRosa 1 5 2 4

Meyn 10 16 4 4 24 St. John 2 5 4

Anderson 0 0 0

Trundy 0 1 0 0

Totals 19 54 10 18 51 Totals 22 54 13 18 64

Mount Ararat 5 23 32 51

Bangor 10 25 41 64

3-pt. goals ? Mount Ararat (3-12): Ouellette 1-2, Colina 0-2, Cantrell 0-1, Strong 2-3, Bode 0-2, Meyn 0-2; Bangor (7-21): Heath 1-5, Gallant 1-3, Astle 5-9, DeRosa 0-2, St. John 0-2

VIKINGS 56, BULLDOGS 54

Lawrence (13-7) Oxford Hills (18-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

J. Kelley 2 4 2 4 6 Powell 2 4 9

Gregory 4 6 1 2 9 L. Kothe 4 11

Toner 0 0 0 0 0 McVety 0 0 0

Lambert 7 15 3 7 21 McDonnell 5 11 1 2 12

Rice 0 1 0 0 0 Gilliam 1 1 0 2

Dennis 1 2 0 0 3 T. Kothe 1 4

Woods 6 13 2 3 15 Tielinen 5 10 5 7 16

Saunders 0 1 0 0 0 Fanjoy 1 1 2

Totals 20 42 8 16 54 Totals 19 36 15 19 56

Lawrence 15 26 33 54

Oxford Hills 10 17 40 56

3-pt. goals ? Lawrence (6-12): J. Kelley 0-1, Lambert 4-4, Dennis 1-2, Woods 1-4, Saunders 0-1; Oxford Hills (3-6): Powell 1-2, McDonnell 1-2, Tielinen 1-2