BANGOR – Nicole Paradis derives much of her athletic success as the floor general for the Skowhegan High girls basketball team.

It’s a job the 5-foot-4 sophomore point guard took literally during the Indians’ 53-26 victory over Bangor in an Eastern Maine Class A semifinal at the Bangor Auditorium on Thursday night.

The second-ranked Indians will play top-seeded Cony of Augusta for the EM title at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Bangor Auditorium.

“The floor’s really slippery to me, so I had trouble keeping traction,” she said. “But I fall a lot anyways.”

Paradis spearheaded a Skowhegan defense that forced 23 turnovers and held Bangor to 17 percent (7-of-42) field-goal shooting, using a relentless brand of hustle that often sent her airborne to an inevitable landing on the Auditorium floor.

“Nicole’s the sparkplug,” said Skowhegan coach Paul True. “She really gets us going, and when the other kids see her diving all over the court, that’s kind of contagious, and they realize they better be doing the same thing.”

When Skowhegan needed offense, the Indians either relied on offensive rebounds to set up second-chance shots or turned to the 3-point shooting of freshman forward Bethany Sevey, who shot 5 of 10 from long range en route to a game-high 19 points.

“I was really nervous at the beginning of the game,” Sevey said. “But once I got into the flow, I just let it go and it worked out pretty well.”

Megan Franklin added eight points and Amanda Berry seven for the Indians, while 5-foot-9 sophomore Kayla Thompson grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Skowhegan to a 42-22 domination of the backboards.

“Even though we didn’t have as much height as they did, we had the quickness so we could move around underneath them and get the ball,” said Sevey, who had seven rebounds.

Senior guard Laura Clarke led Bangor with 10 points, including a 6-of-6 effort from the free-throw line. Caroline Weymouth added seven points, while Kelsey Curtis grabbed six rebounds.

Sixth-seeded Bangor (16-5) battled Skowhegan (18-2) to an 11-11 first-quarter standoff, but the Rams managed only one field goal over the next two periods against the Indians’ swarming defense.

“They’re just a very, very good team,” said Bangor coach Tom Tennett about Skowhegan. “I’m really proud of our kids, but we were really up against it tonight. The way they played defense and shot the ball, we hung in for a while, but they just played extremely well.”

Skowhegan – which started two freshmen and two sophomores – outscored Bangor 10-0 over the first 3:25 of the second quarter to take a 21-11 lead. Paradis hit one jumper with a foot on the 3-point arc and a second shot from behind the line during the run, while Sevey also struck from long distance and freshman Megan Smith scored on an offensive rebound.

Weymouth answered with a 3-pointer for Bangor, but by halftime the Indians held a 25-15 lead.

By the start of the fourth quarter, it was 41-20.

“I tell the girls that it makes absolutely no difference how well we shoot the ball,” True said. “If we play the kind of defense we’re capable of, then we’re going to be in every game we play in.”

INDIANS 53, RAMS 26

Bangor (16-5) Skowhegan (18-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Ogden 1 1 1 2 3 Gibson 0 2 0

Angst 1 4 0 0 2 Paradis 2 6 5

Porter 0 5 2 2 2 Berry 3 7 7

Clarke 2 11 6 6 10 Franklin 3 8

White 0 1 0 0 0 Richards 0 0

McAllian 0 2 0 0 0 Abbott 0 0 0

Lincoln 0 0 0 0 0 Martell 0 0 0

Weymouth 2 10 2 4 7 Thompson 3 6

Webb 0 0 0 0 0 Miller 0 2 0 0

Bradford 0 0 0 0 0 Goodell 0 0 2

Curtis 0 2 0 0 0 Smith 3 8 6

Dubois 1 6 0 2 2 Sevey 5 13 19

Sullivan 0 0 0 0 0

Spires 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 7 42 11 16 26 Totals 19 51 12 53

Bangor 11 15 20 26

Skowhegan 11 25 41 53

3-pt. goals ? Bangor (1-11): Weymouth 1-5, Porter 0-1, McAllian 0-1, Angst 0-2, Clarke 0-2; Skowhegan (6-16): Sevey 5-10, Paradis 1-4, Berry 0-1, Miller 0-1