CORINTH – The experience and defensive pressure displayed by the No. 5 Central High girls basketball team were too much for No. 12 Narraguagus in an Eastern Maine Class C preliminary game Tuesday evening.

The 2004 regional runner-up Red Devils got 22 points from standout senior forward Jenny Rollins to survive an early scare from the Knights of Harrington and earn a 65-39 victory at the high school gym.

Central advances to its fourth straight quarterfinal appearance at the Bangor Auditorium. The win sets up a matchup with Stearns of Millinocket Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.

Central, now 16-3, split with the 14-4 Minutemen in the regular season.

Narraguagus wraps up its season with a 6-13 record.

The Devils were hoping for some tough competition to get ready for the quarterfinals. The Knights certainly provided that early in the game.

“We want to be ready for the Auditorium,” Rollins said. “We don’t have that tough of a schedule so we need a game like this.”

Narraguagus twice took the lead in the first quarter as Central never got into a rhythm and couldn’t find holes in Narraguagus’ 1-3-1 zone.

With Rollins struggling with her shot a bit – she would get hot in the third quarter – the Red Devils needed to find another answer to gain some ground after ending the first quarter with a 13-12 lead. Mackie Davis, the sister of former Central point guard Casey Davis, provided a spark.

Rollins got things started with a jumper nine seconds into the second quarter, followed by a Davis 17-footer to give the Devils a 5-point edge.

After a series of fouls and free-throws, the Knights began to get back into the flow as MaryEva Tenan scored and Maryssa Hatt made two free throws to cut the lead to four.

But after Central’s Caitlin Elliott put back an offensive rebound, Davis scored twice in a span of 15 seconds – first laying up an offensive rebound, then scoring off a Narraguagus turnover in the backcourt for a 26-16 lead. The Red Devils held the lead at 10 until Central’s Danielle Collins drove inside for a scoop shot 8.3 seconds before halftime.

Rollins also scored off a steal in the second quarter. Turning up the man-to-man defense was a big key, Davis said, as the Knights had 21 turnovers in three quarters.

“We were playing more intense, getting into the passing lanes and doing everything we had to do,” said the 5-foot-4 guard, who comes off the bench.

Rollins said it was good to see players like Davis and Collins make big shots.

“[Davis] stepped up big, so did Danielle, and it’s been like that all season,” Rollins said.

Rollins scored 10 points in the third quarter as the Devils outscored the Knights 24-9. Narraguagus had 11 turnovers in the period.

“We’re inexperienced at the guard position, and we didn’t take care of the ball and run our offense,” Narraguagus coach John DeRaps said. “It was just our inexperience against their seniors.”

Davis and Elliott each scored nine points in the game, followed by Collins’ seven.

Narraguagus senior forward Liz Grant led the Knights with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

RED DEVILS 65, KNIGHTS 39

Narraguagus (6-13) Central (16-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Hatt 0 2 3 6 3 Collins 3 9 1 7

Stubbs 0 0 0 0 0 Davis 4 5 9

Johnson 2 4 0 0 5 Elliott 4 10 9

Torrey 1 4 0 0 2 Brownwell 0 1

Foss 1 4 0 0 2 Rollins 9 20 3 22

Greene 1 7 0 0 2 Underhill 1 3

Tenney 2 3 1 2 5 Collins 0 0 0

Albee 0 1 0 0 0 Daniel 2 5 6

Tenan 4 9 0 1 8 Randall 0 0 0

Grant 4 10 2 4 10 Morin 0 3 0

Baker 0 1 2 3 2 Voisine 2 2 4

Lewis 0 0 0 0

Melton 0 2 2 2

Libby 1 1 0 2

Totals 15 45 8 16 39 26 58 12 25 65

Narraguagus 12 21 30 39

Central 13 33 57 65

3-pt. goals – Narraguagus (1-4): Johnson 1-2, Greene 0-1, Tenan 0-1; Central (1-6): Rollins 1-6

Attendance: 400 (est.)