BANGOR – There were no secrets among opponents during Wednesday’s Eastern Maine Class B boys basketball semifinals at the Bangor Auditorium.

Second-seeded Presque Isle had beaten No. 3 Ellsworth twice during the regular season, while No. 1 Maranacook of Readfield owned three wins over No. 4 Medomak Valley of Waldoboro.

The Wildcats and Black Bears were able to capitalize on their respective strengths and earn their way to Saturday’s 3:05 p.m. regional title contest.

Presque Isle rode its formidable frontcourt to a 69-52 victory over Ellsworth, while Maranacook’s small, speedy squad beat Medomak Valley 76-63.

In the first game, the versatile frontcourt trio of Greg Whitaker, Chris Coffin and Adam Kingsbury accounted for 48 points and 20 rebounds as Presque Isle (17-3) prevailed, shooting 64 percent.

The 6-foot-5 Coffin posted 20 points and seven rebounds, Whitaker (6-5) contributed 18 points and seven rebounds, and Kingsbury (6-2) added 13 points, six boards and five assists.

“We just played very good team ball,” Coffin said. “We were passing the ball well, getting it inside, just pounding it in, and the outside shots were falling for us, too.”

Despite spending much of the game shadowing talented Ellsworth guard Corey Dewitt, PI senior guard Matt McGlinn also tossed in 18 points.

“It was their three big kids that bothered us,” said Ellsworth coach Jay Brown. “I thought we did a great job stopping them inside. Then they popped out and shot the 3’s.”

The Wildcats utilized a triangle-and-two alignment to concentrate their efforts on Eagles guards Dewitt and Demetrios Katsiaficas.

Dewitt wound up with 22 hard-earned points, but PI guards Travis Brooker, Logan York and Derrek Belanger combined to limit Katsiaficas (4 assists, 2 steals) to seven points.

“They’ve got a tough couple kids there and Brooker just plays a good defensive game,” Brown said.

PI began to stretch its lead in the third quarter, during which is held Ellsworth (14-6) without a field goal for 41/2 minutes. Whitaker made two foul shots and converted a baseline move to make it 46-34.

A Kingsbury free throw and Coffin’s three-point play pushed the lead to 50-34 with 7:30 left.

“They allowed Chris [Coffin] to step outside a little bit and he buried some jump shots out there, Greg [Whitaker] was slashing, kind of inside-outside, and Matt [McGlinn] played a little better offensively tonight,” said PI coach Tim Prescott.

Louden Jellison (11 points, 8 rebounds) sparked a final charge by the Eagles with five points during a 10-2 spurt that cut the deficit to 52-44 with 6:06 to play, but Coffin scored four points amidst a 7-2 run that held Ellsworth at bay.

In the second game, sophomore guard Ryan Martin’s record-setting performance carried Maranacook (19-1) past Medomak Valley (14-6).

Martin, a 5-6 dynamo, poured in a tournament-best 41 points on 11-for-19 shooting.

The Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B Player of the Year converted 18 of 20 free throws to eclipse the Class B tourney single-game record of 17 shared by Matt Rossignol of Van Buren (1985) and Camden-Rockport’s Mike Geisler (1994).

“He’s a very unselfish player,” said Bears coach Rob Schmidt. “We’ve seen Ryan do some amazing things the last two years.”

This game matched a guard-oriented Maranacook team’s quickness against Medomak Valley’s size and strength. The Bears were able to build an early lead by maintaining a crisp tempo and wound up thwarting a couple of strong challenges by the Panthers.

Three-pointers 27 seconds apart by Jimmy Palmer (12 points) pushed Maranacook’s lead to 51-34 with 3:42 to play in the third quarter.

“We had to keep pushing the ball the whole game and hopefully get their big men out of there,” Martin said.

The Panthers countered behind Zach Armstrong (22 points, 11 rebounds), whose 3-pointers 31 seconds apart ignited a 12-2 scoring surge. A rebound basket by Matthew MacKenzie (24 points, 10 rebounds) cut the deficit to 53-46 after three quarters.

Medomak Valley got as close as four (56-52) with 6:24 left, before Martin went on a tear.

Martin scored Maranacook’s next 17 points, sparking a 10-3 flurry that pushed the Bears’ lead back to 66-55 with 3:33 left.

Martin went 3-for-4 on two trips to the line off drives to the basket, then hit a 14-footer, a scoop shot from the lane and a driving runner.

“He’s just got the heart of a lion,” said Medomak coach Troy Smith. “He just competes and competes and competes.”

Soph Mike Poulin posted 12 points for the winners.

WILDCATS 69, EAGLES 52

Ellsworth (14-6) Presque Isle (17-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Katsiaficas 3 11 1 2 7 Brooker 0 1 0

Dewitt 7 16 4 6 22 McGlinn 6 11 18

Allen 0 0 0 0 0 Kingsbury 6 13

Britt 1 3 4 5 6 Coffin 8 12 20

Karst 1 7 0 0 3 Whitaker 5 18

Jellison 5 7 1 1 11 Belanger 0 0

Archer 1 4 0 0 3 Cheney 0 1 0

Doe 0 0 0 0 0 Doyen 0 0 0 0

Royal 0 0 0 0 0 Ward 0 0 0

Whitney 0 0 0 0 0 Gallant 0 0 0

Taylor 0 0 0 0 0 Lamoreux 0 0

Coombs 0 0 0 0 0 Ireland 0 0 0

York 0 0 0 0

Totals 18 48 10 14 52 Totals 25 39 14 19 69

Ellsworth 14 27 34 52

Presque Isle 15 30 46 69

3-pt. goals – Ellsworth (6-23): Katsiaficas 0-3, Dewitt 4-11, Archer 1-4, Britt 0-1, Karst 1-4; PI (5-10): Belanger 0-1, Cheney 0-1, McGlinn 2-3, Coffin 3-4, Whitaker 0-1

BLACK BEARS 76, PANTHERS 63

Medomak Valley (14-6) Maranacook (19-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Ferrier 0 4 0 0 0 Poulin 5 9 12

MacKnzie 11 19 2 6 24 Martin 11 19 18 20 41

Ames 3 4 2 2 8 Bardaglio 2 5 4

Armstrong 10 18 0 0 22 Palmer 4 8 12

O’Donnell 1 9 1 2 4 Spalding 1 4

Simmons 0 1 0 0 0 Denbow 0 2 1

Wood 0 0 0 0 0 Leary 1 5 0 2

Durkee 0 0 0 0 0

Merrifield 0 0 0 0 0

Vannah 0 2 0 0 0

Schwab 1 1 0 0 2

Barnes 0 0 0 0 0

Benner 0 3 0 0 0

C.Blackmn 1 2 1 2 3

Totals 27 63 6 12 63 Totals 24 50 24 31 76

Medomak Valley 8 28 46 63

Maranacook 18 37 53 76

3-pt. goals – Medomak (3-16): Simmons 0-1, Ferrier 0-1, Vannah 0-2, Armstrong 2-4, Benner 0-3, O’Donnell 1-5; Maranacook (4-7): Poulin 1-2, Martin 1-1, Bardaglio 0-1, Palmer 2-2, Leary 0-1