BANGOR – Faced with a big test in Friday’s Eastern Maine Class C semifinal, the Calais boys basketball team responded the way it has all season.

The No. 1 Blue Devils outrebounded, outran, and outshot a taller No. 4 Madawaska team, earning a 71-57 victory Friday afternoon at the Bangor Auditorium.

Five Calais players scored in double figures, including two who came off the bench.

Chris Taylor poured in a game-high 19 points for Calais, which heads into today’s regional final against No. 2 George Stevens of Blue Hill. The boys game will start 15 minutes after the awards are handed out for the girls game, which starts at 7:05 p.m.

The Eagles beat No. 3 Dexter 40-30 in Friday’s first semifinal.

Calais will take a 20-0 record into the regional title game.

The Blue Devils, who don’t have anyone taller than 6-foot-3 backup forward Cal Shorey listed on their roster, knew they had to contain Madawaska’s big three – 6-6 Josh Pelletier, 6-4 Mark Sirois, and 6-3 Alan Campbell.

“We were expecting to shut their big guys down and box them out,” said 6-1 Calais guard Brandon Tomah, who scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds. “We did a pretty good job of that.”

Calais outrebounded Madawaska 36-29.

The Owls started the game in a zone defense, which kept the Devils from going inside too much but couldn’t keep Calais from shooting the ball. The Blue Devils hit eight field goals, seven of which were jump shots. Adam Knowles scored six of his 10 points in the quarter.

That gave Calais a 17-6 lead, which the Blue Devils extended to 37-22 at halftime. Calais continued to shoot well, which forced Madawaska out of its zone and into man-to-man defense.

The flow started to favor the Owls, who got back into the game in the third quarter.

Madawaska’s Alan Campbell poured in 12 of his 18 points in that period, including eight points in a span of about 11/2 minutes. He hit a 3-pointer with 1:57 left in the third to cut the Calais lead to 43-40.

That was as close as the Owls would get, despite 10 points from Dom Rossignol, who finished with 18. The Blue Devils made six of nine field goals and 11 of 13 free throws in the fourth.

The energy Madawaska expended by playing man likely did them in at the end, Owls coach Matt Rossignol said.

“They’re very athletic and we didn’t move as well tonight in our zone,” said Rossignol, Dom Rossignol’s father. “We had to switch to man. It changed the tempo in our favor, but in the long run it wore us down. We were fatigued, not having the depth that they have.”

Shorey and backup Sam Bell each added 10 points and combined for 10 rebounds.

BLUE DEVILS 71, OWLS 57

Madawaska (14-6) Calais (20-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Cyr 0 0 0 0 0 Leeman 0 0 0 0

Desrosier 0 0 0 0 0 Cavangh 0 0 0

Bosse 0 1 0 0 0 Tomah 7 14 17

Pelletier 3 4 0 1 6 Rogers 2 8 5

Morin 2 3 0 0 5 Taylor 6 10 19

Sirois 4 8 2 3 10 Knowles 3 6 10

Campbell 6 14 3 4 18 Guthrie 0 0 0

Michaud 0 0 0 1 0 Stewart 0 1 0

Rossignol 9 18 0 1 18 Bell 4 9 10

Beaulieu 0 8 0 0 0 O’Neill 0 0 0

Wallace 0 2 0 0

Shorey 3 6 4 10

Totals 24 56 5 10 57 Totals 25 56 18 21 71

Madawaska 6 22 40 57

Calais 17 37 47 71

3-pt. goals – Madawaska (4-16): Campbell 3-7, Morin 1-2, Rossignol 0-2, Beaulieu 0-5; Calais (3-9): Bell 2-3, Taylor 1-1, Knowles 0-2, Tomah 0-2, Rogers 0-1