BANGOR – A key defensive switch and a well-rounded offensive effort helped power the No. 3 Winslow girls basketball team into the Eastern Maine Class B tournament semifinals.

Ashley Carter led the Black Raiders with 11 points and Amanda Byrne sparked the Winslow defense to a 49-39 victory over the No. 6 Hawks in the opening game of the 2005 tournament Friday afternoon at the Bangor Auditorium.

Winslow, now 16-3, will face No. 2 Maranacook of Readfield in a semifinal Wednesday at 2:05 p.m.

Hermon, which advanced as far as the Eastern Maine final last year, finishes at 15-5.

The Hawks looked semifinal-bound early as Cassie White went 4-for-5 from the floor en route to 10 points in the first quarter for a 12-4 Hermon lead at the end of the period.

White (14 points) was the difference as 6-foot-2 centers Malerie Hall of Hermon and Stephanie Bossie of Winslow shut each other down. The Raiders had four offensive rebounds at one point in the first quarter, but no points in the paint.

But with 2:55 left in the first quarter, Winslow coach J.R. Richards called a timeout, switched the man-to-man defensive assignments, and things changed from there.

Richards moved Byrne over to guard White, and the scrappy Winslow senior held White scoreless in the second and third quarters. The Raiders also picked up their defensive pressure, forcing six second-quarter turnovers and outscoring the Hawks 17-7.

“[Richards] told us it was up to the senior guards to put pressure on them,” said Byrne, who was one of five Raiders with at least six points. “Brittany Morin and I knew we had to go out there and go crazy.”

The Hawks had 20 turnovers while Winslow had 11.

“A lot of turnovers,” Hermon coach Margie Deabay said. “And not necessarily in the press but in the halfcourt we just couldn’t handle the pressure. I knew they were going to be quick.”

Winslow’s Amanda Lapointe scored six points in an 8-0 run at the beginning of the third quarter to help the Raiders take a 29-19 lead. Hermon managed just one field goal in the third.

Bossie and Hall did cancel each other out with just two points apiece but Winslow’s Ashley Carter also shut down forward Shannon Wiggin (three points), and that left the Hawks without their top three scorers.

Bossie did finish with 12 rebounds and two blocks.

Hermon senior guard Paige Macdonald scored nine of her 12 points in the second half.

BLACK RAIDERS 49, HAWKS 39

Hermon (15-5) Winslow (16-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Armstrong 1 1 0 0 2 Byrne 3 10 8

White 5 16 4 4 14 L. Richards 0 1

Kelley 1 1 0 0 2 Morin 3 9 9

Wiggin 1 3 0 0 3 Peters 0 1 0

Hall 1 6 0 0 2 Lapointe 3 4 9

Macdonald 3 8 6 8 12 Carter 5 14 11

Gibson 1 1 2 2 4 Bossie 1 9 2

E. Richards 2 2 6

Boutin 1 2 1 3

McClarie 0 0 0

Totals 13 36 12 14 39 Totals 18 51 11 27 49

Hermon 12 19 25 39

Winslow 4 21 34 49

3-pt. goals – Hermon (1-3): Wiggin 1-1, White 0-2; Winslow (2-5): E. Richards 1-1, Lapointe 1-1, Byrne 0-1, Morin 0-2