BANGOR – The first night of the Eastern Maine Class B girls basketball tournament was an upsetting one if you were a favorite.

It was anything but if you were wearing purple and white.

Both the seventh-seeded John Bapst Crusaders and sixth-seeded Waterville Purple Panthers came away with wins as they eliminated No. 2 Camden Hills of Rockport and No. 3 Rockland, respectively.

John Bapst used a redoubled rebounding effort and hard-nosed defense to knock off the Windjammers 52-48 while Waterville excelled in the clutch to edge Rockland 49-45.

Bapst will take on Waterville in a 7:05 p.m. Wednesday semifinal in a battle of 15-5 teams.

In the second game, Chere Wickstrom embodied her team’s approach with an unwillingness to blink against the 16-2 favorites as she didn’t wow anyone with her stats but excelled when it counted most.

Of course, Bapst’s gritty floor general had a lot of help.

Much of it came from fellow senior guard Ashley Freeman hit eight of 10 free throws and 10 of 13 overall en route to 14 points – 13 of which came in the second half – to go with her eight rebounds and two assists.

Wickstrom had eight points, three rebounds, and three assists, but it was her ballhandling and defensive pressure that helped give head coach Mike Webb his first tourney win in Bapst’s first quarterfinal appearance since 1998 – the last year the school was in Class B. It was also Bapst’s first quarterfinal win since 1998.

The tourney-inexperienced Crusaders kept things close throughout, but rather than wilt under the pressure, they got better as it got later.

After shooting 5-for-10 from the line in the fourth quarter’s opening five minutes, Bapst hit seven of its last 10.

Junior forward Lauren Nichols had nine points and 12 rebounds while sophomore center Hillary Laferriere had 11 points and four boards before fouling out with 2:20 to play.

“We just wanted to spread the floor after she fouled out because at that point, we were ahead [43-40],” said Wickstrom.

Bapst had 16 turnovers in the first half, three in a 35-second span late in the fourth quarter and 28 overall to 16 by Camden Hills. It also took 21 fewer shots from the field. So how did Bapst beat the 16-3 ‘Jammers? By outshooting them 46.7 to 33.3 percent and outrebounding them 37-22.

“We wanted to work the ball around, and because they’re really good at trapping, we wanted to get rid of it before the trap came,” Wickstrom explained. “We just kept working it inside and it was open.

“In practice the night before, we had our starting five out there against seven defenders. That really helped us because it made us aware of openings and finding spaces.”

Allie Parent led Camden Hills with 14 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Waterville has relied on its freshmen and sophomores all season, but when the six Panthers made their tourney debut, they turned to a senior in the waning moments of the first game.

Danae Plaisted scored nine of her 13 points, including a huge three-point play, in the fourth quarter to lead her team.

Rockland beat Waterville 51-50 in the regular season, but the close score didn’t give the Panthers much confidence before Friday’s rematch.

“We all came out and played with heart and we just worked together,” Plaisted said.

Junior Elizabeth Bell also scored 13 points, all in the first half. After Waterville dominated in the first half, Rockland got back into the game and eventually led 42-40 with 5:27 left in the fourth quarter.

Plaisted tied it up when she put back the rebound of a missed free throw, and fellow senior Alisha Champagne scored inside off a pass from sophomore Sarah Given for a 44-42 lead.

Rockland’s Dana Clark made a free throw to pull the Tigers within a point, but Plaisted completed a conventional three-point play – the field goal came off another Given assist – for a 47-43 lead with 2:09 left.

“It was intense,” said the 5-foot-10 Plaisted. “I had to do something because I felt like everybody was getting down on ourselves. I just kind of helped out a little bit.”

It was enough of an edge to stop Rockland, which got a basket from Danielle Hansen with 35 seconds left but turned the ball over with 14.4 remaining.

Rockland coach Karen Bickmore was pleased with her squad’s rally. Waterville had a 33-20 lead at one point in the third quarter.

“That showed a lot of composure and grit on our part,” she said. “But once we turned the corner, we couldn’t maintain that.”

Allie Todd led Rockland with 14 points, including 4-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Panthers double-teamed 6-foot Rockland star Caitlin Hynes and held her to just eight points. She averaged 16.2 points per game in the regular season.

JOHN BAPST 52, CAMDEN HILLS 48

John Bapst (15-5) Camden Hills (16-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Jordan 0 0 0 0 0 Johnson 1 2 3

Freeman 2 5 10 13 14 Carleton 1 2

Nichols 3 6 3 5 9 Parent 6 16 14

Greenlaw 1 3 4 6 6 Tedford 0 0 2

Wickstrom 2 6 2 4 8 Philoon 0 2 0

Wadleigh 2 2 0 0 4 Gushee 3 14 8

McGuan 0 0 0 0 0 Fetterman 0 2

Gibson 0 0 0 0 0 Richards 3 8

LaFerriere 4 8 3 5 11 Holgerson 3 9

Totals 14 30 22 33 52 Totals 17 51 10 18 48

John Bapst 9 22 34 52

Camden Hills 10 20 31 48

3-pt. goals – John Bapst (2-3): Wickstrom 2-3; Camden Hills (4-10): Johnson 1-1, Parent 1-2, Gushee 1-5, Richards 1-2

PANTHERS 49, TIGERS 45

Waterville (15-5) Rockland (15-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Van Dyne 0 3 0 0 0 Todd 5 10 14

Pellerin 0 0 0 0 0 Clark 2 7 5

Whitten 0 0 2 4 2 Hansen 3 5 6

Bell 6 17 0 0 13 Hynes 3 16 2 8

Frame 3 7 1 1 7 Butler 1 2 2

Given 4 11 0 0 10 Barnes 4 11 8

Plaisted 6 9 1 3 13 Boggs 1 2 2

Champgne 2 4 0 3 4

Totals 21 51 4 11 49 Totals 19 53 45

Waterville 18 26 36 49

Rockland 7 20 36 45

3-pt. goals – Waterville (3-11): Given 2-6, Bell 1-4, Van Dyne 0-1; Rockland (4-14): Todd 4-9, Clark 0-3, Butler 0-1, Barnes 0-1