BANGOR – A third-quarter surge, including seven points from senior Megan Franklin, helped boost the No. 2 Skowhegan girls basketball into the Eastern Maine Class A final for the second straight year.

Franklin scored a game-high 13 points to lead the Indians to a 48-33 victory over No. 6 Nokomis of Newport in a regional semifinal Thursday night at the Bangor Auditorium.

Skowhegan, now 18-2, will face No. 1 Cony of Augusta, which beat No. 4 Messalonskee of Oakland 62-30 in Thursday’s second semifinal. The Rams and the Indians will play in the regional final Saturday at 3:05 p.m.

Cony (20-0) beat Skowhegan twice in the regular season but the Indians won the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A championship matchup between the two teams 54-52.

The Warriors close out their season with a 16-5 record.

Skowhegan clawed back from an eight-point deficit in the second quarter. Danielle Miller sparked the Indians when she converted a four-point play after getting fouled while hitting a 3-pointer – chopping the Warriors’ lead to two.

“That uplifted us so much … because we were so down,” Franklin said. “We couldn’t make a shot, we couldn’t make a layup, we were getting fouled. With that four-point play we said, ‘Hey, we can do it. We’re here.’ It was awesome.”

The Indians outscored Nokomis 7-2 from there for a four-point halftime lead.

Things only got better for Skowhegan after the break. Bethany Sevey opened the third with three of four at the free-throw line and Nicole Paradis scored off a feed from Franklin to go up 28-19. Nokomis’ Alyssa Bragdon (11 points) drove inside for the Warriors’ only score of the period, but Franklin answered with a 3-pointer and a jumper in the lane.

Franklin went 3-for-3 and the team was 5-for-11 from 3-point range.

“We were late closing out and they buried [their 3-pointers], and it really changed the whole course of the game,” Nokomis coach Earl Anderson said.

Later in the quarter Sevey banked in a tough jump shot at the buzzer for a 40-21 lead. The Indians had outscored the Warriors 17-4 in the period.

“We had a hard time getting the ball in the hoop and getting transitions happening,” Franklin said. “But we knew that if we just calmed down and ran our offense and play our defense as strong as we did, we’d get points and we’d get on the board.”

Anderson said his young squad lost focus at times, and Skowhegan took advantage.

“We had a letdown and it’s happened to us before,” Anderson said. “Can’t happen this time of year. You can’t have that kind of letdown.”

Nokomis played tough half-court defense, preventing the Indians from getting into their transition game, and effectively contained standouts Paradis (seven points) and Sevey (eight points). But the Warriors were plagued by offensive struggles and foul trouble.

Skowhegan responded at the free-throw line, making 19 of 24.

Ali LaGross added seven points and Miller had six for Skowhegan.

Nokomis forward Tatum Welch scored six of her nine points in the fourth quarter and had a team-high seven rebounds.

Skowhegan’s Paradis and Nokomis’ Kelley Paradis guarded each other at both ends of the floor in one of the more highly anticipated defensive matchups of the game. Kelley Paradis had six points.

“Coach Anderson’s teams play great half-court defense and for us to make that little run in the middle was just what we needed,” Skowhegan coach Heath Cowan said.

INDIANS 48, WARRIORS 33

Nokomis (16-5) Skowhegan (18-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Paradis 3 13 0 0 6 Saydjari 0 0

Carroll 0 0 0 0 0 Paradis 2 7 7

Barden 0 3 0 0 0 Sevey 2 10 8

Peterson 3 10 0 0 7 Franklin 4 13

Al. Bragdon 2 9 6 6 11 LaGross 0 1 7

Cooper 0 3 0 0 0 Abbott 1 2 5

As. Bragdon 0 7 0 0 0 Matchett 0 0

Welch 2 6 5 7 9 Miller 2 5 6

Veinotte 0 0 0

Ames 0 0 0 0

Smith 1 2 0 2

Evans 0 0 0 0

Pinkham 0 0 0 0

Atkinson 0 0 0

Totals 10 51 11 13 33 12 33 19 24 48

Nokomis 10 19 21 33

Skowhegan 12 23 40 48

3-pt. goals – Nokomis (2-21): Peterson 1-5, Al. Bragdon 1-6, As. Bragdon 0-1, Barden 0-3, Paradis 0-6; Skowhegan (5-11): Franklin 3-3, Miller 1-1, Paradis 1-5, Sevey 0-2