BANGOR – There were 45.6 seconds left in the Eastern Maine Class C schoolgirl tournament quarterfinal between Stearns High School of Millinocket and Central of Corinth when Stearns’ Trisha MacDonald stepped to the foul line.

Her team was leading 56-53.

MacDonald, a 1,000-point career scorer, sank both free throws and grabbed a clutch defensive rebound 15 seconds later to help lead fourth-seeded Stearns to a hard-fought 60-57 victory over the fifth-seeded Red Devils.

The fourth-seeded Minutemen, 15-4, will face No. 1 Dexter in a 3:35 p.m. Friday semifinal. Dexter beat Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln 44-29 in the nightcap.

“I kept telling myself I can do this and don’t pay attention to the crowd or anybody,” said MacDonald. “Our teams needs it. I’ve got to make them.”

Hilary Arsenault added two free throws with 23.6 seconds left to ice the win.

MacDonald finished with a game-high 21 points, including a desperation 3-pointer from 25 feet just as the third quarter ended.

That gave the Minutemen a 48-38 cushion.

“I made one of those in a scrimmage against Lee. That was kind of practice for tonight,” grinned MacDonald.

Senior guard Jenny Rollins, a 1,500-point scorer for Central, scored nine points during a 15-8 fourth-quarter run that cut the lead to three before MacDonald connected from the line.

Rollins was held to 10 points through three quarters by Stearns’ Amy Collinsworth, who also helped her team expand its three-point halftime lead in the third quarter with six rebounds, four points and a steal.

“I love to play defense and I enjoy rebounding, too,” said Collinsworth, who used her tenacity, quickness and positioning to cover Rollins and rebound effectively.

Rollins went 6-for-19 from the floor.

“She’s very hard to guard. She’s a cutter so you have to deny the cuts. And she can shoot so I put my hand in her face,” said Collinsworth.

MacDonald had seven rebounds and two steals to go with her 21 points; Collinsworth finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and three steals; Arsenault had 11 points; Deanna Michaud had seven first-half points off the bench and Janessa Nason had five assists.

Rollins wound up with 19 points and three assists for 16-4 Central. Danielle Collins had 14 points; Teresa Libby had nine points and nine rebounds and Caitlin Elliott had eight points and nine rebounds despite playing with an injured arm.

“They pressured our guards and made us start our offense out further than we would have liked,” said Central coach Diane Rollins. “We didn’t adjust well at the half like I thought we were going to. I thought we were going to set back screens to help our guards out but we didn’t get it done.”

MINUTEMEN 60, RED DEVILS 57

Central (16-4) Stearns (15-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Collins 6 9 1 5 14 T.M’Donald 7 14 5 8 21

Elliott 3 7 2 3 8 Nason 0 1 1

Rollins 6 19 6 8 19 Collinsworth 2 9

Underhill 2 3 3 3 7 Arsenault 3 10 5 6 11

Libby 2 6 5 6 9 J. Michaud 2 4

Davis 0 0 0 0 0 Somers 2 7 7

Melton 0 0 0 0 0 A.M’Donald 0 0

Daniel 0 1 0 0 0 D. Michaud 3 7

Brownell 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 19 45 17 25 57 Totals 19 48 19 25 60

Central 10 26 38 57

Stearns 9 29 48 60

3-pt. goals – Central (2-3): Collins 1-1, Rollins 1-2; Stearns (3-7): T. MacDonald 2-2, Somers 1-2, Arsenault 0-2, Collinsworth 0-1