BANGOR – The talk at the Bangor Auditorium Thursday afternoon was a game that went on earlier that day at the Augusta Civic Center.

No. 5 Valley of Bingham shocked Western Maine top-seed and defending Class D state champ Rangeley 58-47 in that region’s semifinal round.

The Lakers, who defeated Lee Academy in the 2004 state final, were undefeated going into the semis.

Woodie Bartlett, the Greenville girls coach, said Valley’s for real, although Rangeley’s loss was still a surprise.

Greenville faced both teams in the regular season.

“Rangeley beat Valley pretty soundly twice this season but I know [Valley coach] Gordon Hartwell and I know his goal was to find a way to beat Rangeley in the playoffs and I guess he did,” Bartley said after his Lakers lost to Lee 67-36 in an Eastern Maine semifinal Thursday.

“They’re good. They have Kristin Baker, she’s one of the best girls we play against,” Bartley added. “If she’s on and shooting well they’re going to be very hard to beat.”

And that’s what happened. Baker poured in 36 points, including an 11-of-15 effort from the free-throw line, in the win.

Rangeley beat Valley 65-38 and 57-35 in the regular season.

Lee senior Shelby Pickering, who had 20 points and 21 rebounds against Greenville Thursday, said Rangeley’s loss was also the talk on the Pandas’ bus down to Bangor earlier Thursday.

“We got live updates on the bus,” said Lee senior Shelby Pickering. “People were calling us, telling us the whole game.”

Ashland freshman shine

Lee’s freshman starters have gotten plenty of attention this season, but now that play had moved to the Bangor Auditorium the rest of Eastern Maine has had a chance to see how clutch Ashland’s young starters can be, too.

Freshmen Whitney Flint and Melinda Chasse, who are cousins, combined to hit eight of 16 field-goal attempts and 11 of 13 shots from the free-throw line en route to 27 points.

The two scored 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting in the Hornets’ quarterfinal win over No. 13 Washburn. That’s 51.5 percent shooting in two games – not bad for two freshmen.

The girls are close, Chasse said after scoring 12 points in Thursday’s 50-46 win over Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook.

“We’ve just been to all these basketball camps together and done all this stuff together that it’s paid off here in Bangor,” Chasse said.

Lee and Ashland will meet Saturday at 9:05 a.m. for the regional title.