BANGOR – Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class B girls quarterfinal between fourth-ranked Mattanawcook of Lincoln and No. 5 Belfast was a tale of two halves.

In the first half, shots weren’t falling for the Lynx, and the Lions led by as many as 13 at one point.

The second half, however, was all about the play of Brianna Hanscom and Michelle Paul, who helped rally MA to a 55-47 victory at the Bangor Auditorium.

The Lynx (16-3) will face Waterville in a 3:35 p.m. semifinal Wednesday. The top-ranked Purple Panthers defeated No. 9 Rockland 78-48 in the morning session’s second game.

Belfast finished 13-7.

In the first game, a pullup 3-point bucket by Paul with 1:07 remaining in the third period gave the Lynx their first lead since they were up 2-0 in the game’s opening seconds.

The teams went back and forth throughout the fourth quarter, trading both baskets and turnovers, before Brittany Piche sank both ends of a one-and-one to put MA up for good with 2:17 left.

The key to the Lynx’s success was shutting down Belfast’s top scorers, Brooke Reed and Jillian Ross.

“In the second half we played [better] defense and gave up [only] 18 points,” said MA boys coach/athletic director Rick Sinclair, who was filling in for girls coach Brian McDormand. McDormand had to sit out the game after receiving two technical fouls in the Lynx’s regular-season finale against Stearns of Millinocket.

Paul, who scored nine of her 16 points in the second half, said MA’s shots started falling after the intermission.

“We’re really a third-quarter team,” Paul said. “Our shots weren’t falling [in the first half], and we weren’t expecting anything less.”

Mattanawcook committed 11 turnovers in a sloppy first half while shooting just 8 for 23 from the field.

Sinclair added that “the girls made [key] foul shots down the stretch.”

Hanscom led all scorers with 21 points for the Lynx while Reed scored 15 and Ross 14 for the Lions.

Mattanawcook outscored Belfast 16-10 from the foul line with the Lions only taking two free throws in the fourth quarter.

In the second game, Waterville used a 50-29 surge in the second half to put away a stubborn Rockland team which stayed close in the first half.

The aggressive Panthers committed an uncharacteristic 16 turnovers in the first 16 minutes, but once they switched from a man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone, Waterville started pressuring the Tigers into turnovers which led to open shots.

“It made them guard areas, so they can get to those long passes,” said Waterville coach Ted Rioux.

The Panthers led by only nine at the half, but that margin grew to 19 by the end of the third quarter, helped by six Rockland turnovers.

Waterville’s inside-out play of 5-foot-11 center Morgan Frame and 5-4 guard Paige Gardner was pivotal on the offensive end. Both were able to get open looks outside and easy buckets inside off screens and pick and rolls.

“It was all about getting shot selection,” Rioux said. “We didn’t really set those screens in the first half, so we weren’t getting open shots.”

Frame led four Waterville players in double figures, finishing with a game-high 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting while Gardiner scored 15. Jennifer Nale contributed 12 and Sarah Given 10.

Baillie Boggs and Aly Nolan paced the Tigers with 12 points apiece. Nolan’s points came on four 3-point field goals.

PURPLE PANTHERS 78, TIGERS 48

Rockland (11-9) Waterville (19-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Felt 2 5 0 0 4 T. Frame 1 1 2

Clark 2 9 2 4 6 Gardiner 5 11 3 4 15

Hansen 3 6 0 0 6 Sta.Whttn 0 2

Boggs 4 12 4 6 12 Bell 1 5 4

Harsula 0 0 0 0 0 Nale 4 6 12

Nolan 4 5 0 0 12 M. Frame 8 12 3 6 19

Ranquist 0 2 1 2 1 Reynolds 0 0

Heal 1 2 0 1 2 Smith 2 2 0 4

Sirois 0 2 0 0 0 White 0 1 0

Joyce 1 2 0 0 3 Given 3 5 10

Picard 1 4 0 0 2 Bishop 0 1 1

Kinney 0 0 0 0 0 Ste.Whttn 4 9

Plourde 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 18 49 7 13 48 Totals 28 51 17 23 78

Rockland 10 19 36 48

Waterville 20 28 55 78

3-pt. goals – Rockland (5-12): Nolan 4-4, Felt 0-3, Clark 0-1, Foggs 0-1, Joyce 1-2, Ranquist 0-1; Waterville (5-10): Gardiner 2-3, Bell 0-2, Nale 2-3, Given 1-1, White 0-1

LYNX 55, LIONS 47

Belfast (13-7) Mattanawcook (16-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Soohey 0 0 0 0 0 Piche 1 5 4

Webster 0 0 0 0 0 Paul 4 17 16

Littlefield 0 4 2 2 2 Bri. Hscm 7 13 6 6 21

Ross 5 11 3 3 14 Nicastro 1 5 3

Reed 6 16 1 2 15 Libbey 2 3 0 4

Whittier 3 9 2 2 8 Bro.Hscm 1 2

Hills 2 4 0 1 4 Anderson 0 0

Anderson 0 1 0 0 0 Hawkins 2 2 5

Blair 0 1 2 2 2

Hogan 1 3 0 0 2

Curry 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 17 49 10 12 47 Totals 18 51 16 20 55

Belfast 16 29 38 47

Mattanawcook 8 18 39 55

3-pt. goals – Belfast (3-18): Reed 2-10, Ross 1-5, Whittier 0-3; Mattanawcook (3-21): Paul 2-13, Piche 0-4, Br. Hanscom 1-1, Libbey 0-1, Bro. Hanscom 0-1, Hicastro 0-1