BANGOR – The shot is not a vertical explosion to the basket, rather a floating drift to the right as Alex McAvoy rises to release his jumper.

But the 5-foot-11 junior guard for Katahdin of Stacyville wasn’t interested in style points Monday night, only those that came when his shot swished through the net as he and the No. 4 Cougars edged No. 5 Washburn 60-55 in an Eastern D boys basketball quarterfinal at the Bangor Auditorium.

“My coach has been telling me all season that I’m floating too much on my jump shot,” said McAvoy, who made four 3-pointers while scoring 18 points. “I’ve been trying to fix it but it’s just the way I shoot.”

Katahdin’s second quarterfinal victory over Washburn in as many years advances the 16-4 Cougars to Thursday’s 8:35 p.m. semifinal against No. 1 Lee Academy, a 60-43 winner over No. 9 Jonesport-Beals in the nightcap.

McAvoy, the nephew of Katahdin coach Bill McAvoy, delivered the game’s key shot, a 3-pointer from the right of the key with 4:43 left after Washburn had outscored the Cougars 10-1 to open the final period and draw within 50-49.

“All I know was my shot was falling all game,” he said. “I just saw the open space so I knew I had to hit it.”

Washburn (16-4) closed within two points twice after that, but got no closer as Katahdin made 5-of-8 from the line and came up with most of the loose balls in the final minutes.

“We thought it was going to come down to the fourth quarter, and we had just enough energy left,” said Bill McAvoy. “I got a little worried in the fourth quarter because we started standing around a lot, but we held on.”

McCarthy led Katahdin with 19 points, 15 in the first half. McAvoy added 18 points and Willett had 13 points and six assists.

McAvoy and senior forward Jordan Qualey also played key defensive roles, with Qualey containing Thompson until the final quarter and McAvoy helping to limit Washburn guard Zach Bird – who scored 36 points in the Beavers’ preliminary-round win – to nine points.

“The last four or five games we’ve played well as a unit,” Bill McAvoy said. “We’ve had balanced scoring, and that’s given us confidence as a team coming into these games.”

Thompson, a 1,500-point career scorer for Washburn, finished with 22 points, 10 in the final period.

Katahdin hit 13 of its first 18 shots, including 5 of 6 from beyond the 3-point arc, to take a 32-21 lead early in the second quarter. McCarthy hit three 3-pointers and McAvoy two during the run, and from there Washburn was forever in catch-up mode.

“We just needed [Katahdin] to not shoot quite as well as they did coming out of the chute,” said Washburn coach Larry Worcester. “I thought we did everything we needed to, but sometimes the shooting percentage is the most important statistic, and they just shot the lights out the first eight or 10 minutes.”

COUGARS 60, BEAVERS 55

Washburn (16-4) Katahdin (16-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Connolly 3 3 0 0 7 Willett 4 9 13

J. Goupille 1 4 0 0 2 J. Qualey 1 2

A. Thompson 4 8 0 0 9 Jo.Anderson 4 8

Pesut 3 7 0 0 6 Gould 0 0 0

J. Thompson 8 14 5 5 22 McAvoy 7 14 18

Bird 4 9 0 0 9 K. Anderson 0 1 0

Nelson 0 0 0 0 0 McCarthy 6 14 4 6 19

Totals 23 45 5 5 55 22 53 17 60

Washburn 16 33 39 55

Katahdin 25 38 49 60

3-pt. goals – Washburn (4-14): Connolly 1-1, J. Thompson 1-3, A. Thompson 1-4, Bird 1-4, J. Goupille 0-2; Katahdin (7-19): McAvoy 4-9, McCarthy 3-8, Willett 0-1, K. Anderson 0-1