BANGOR – The top-seeded Lee Academy girls pressed on to victory, literally, and will now take on Limestone Community School/Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Thursday’s 3:35 p.m. semifinal in the Eastern Maine Class D schoolgirl tournament at the Bangor Auditorium.

Lee Academy’s swarming 1-2-2 press forced 11 first-quarter turnovers as the Pandas jumped out to a 19-2 lead en route to a 66-43 victory over ninth seed Katahdin High School of Stacyville.

Fourth-seeded Limestone Community School/MSSM rode a terrific 16-point, nine-rebound performance from 5-foot-10 senior guard Lauren Redmond to a 31-24 triumph over No. 5 Central Aroostook of Mars Hill.

Lee Academy is now 16-3 while LCS/MSSM improved to 16-4. Central Aroostook concluded a 15-5 season while Katahdin finished up at 8-12.

In the second game, Aarika Ritchie scored 16 points, grabbed five rebounds and made three steals to lead the Pandas to their impressive victory.

Karin Bird contributed 15 points, 11 rebounds and three assists and Dana Houghton scored 14 points.

Brooke Harris had seven points, five rebounds and three assists and Amanda Gifford had three steals in the first 1:45, which led to seven unanswered points.

“Defense is my thing, I guess. I’d play defense all day if I could,” said Gifford.

Gifford opened the scoring with a steal and a layup and, after she helped harass Katahdin into a turnover, Ritchie’s driving layup made it 4-0.

Gifford stole the ball and fed Bird for an easy bucket and, after another Gifford steal, Harris was fouled and sank one of two free throws.

Brooke Smallwood’s 15-footer snapped the string but Lee Academy scored the next 12 points with Harris capping the spree with a 3-pointer and assists on baskets by Houghton and Bird.

Katahdin could get no closer than 11 the rest of the way.

“They’re real quick and they can anticipate the ball so well,” said Katahdin senior guard Ronni Robinson.

Gifford said that after getting upset by Greater Houlton Christian Academy in the quarterfinals last year (64-61), “we wanted to come out very intense. We wanted to get steals and play real good defense because we knew that would key our offense.”

Chelsie Bates’ 13 points and Jasmine Cyr’s seven points and seven rebounds led Katahdin and Robinson had six points and five rebounds.

In the opener, the Panthers had no answer for Redmond, who had two assists, two steals and two blocked shots in addition to her 16 points and nine rebounds.

“It’s not really about the points for me just as long as we win,” said Redmond.

Redmond had a basket and fed Kellie Peers for a pair of 3-pointers during a game-opening 12-1 run that gave LCS/MSSM a lead it would never relinquish.

“My shot was on today,” said Peers.

Peers later passed to Redmond for a pair of consecutive 3-pointers late in the third period after Central Aroostook had closed to within 22-19.

“I was just glad I was open and I was able to shoot them,” said Redmond. “Kellie and I work real well together.”

Peers finished with six points and sister Julie Peers had five rebounds.

Alex Dame’s 11 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots powered Central Aroostook. Sarah Long had four points and six rebounds.

Long had four points in a 6-0 run that cut the Eagles’ lead to 12-7 but Redmond canned a driving layup and scored on a put-back of her own miss to make it 16-7 and help her team take an 18-9 lead into the intermission.

The Panthers used a 10-4 run at the start of the third quarter to pull within 22-19 as Dame scored six points inside and Robyn Graham hit a pair of 12-foot jumpers from the side of the key.

But Redmond’s two 3-pointers expanded the lead to 28-19 after three periods and the Eagles parlayed their athleticism, impressive ballhandling and deliberate offense to keep the ball away from CA for large chunks of time in the final period.

EAGLES 31, PANTHERS 24

CAHS (15-5) LCS/MSSM (16-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Bradley 1 8 0 0 2 K. Peers 2 6

Day 1 3 0 0 3 King 0 2 2 2

Graham 2 7 0 0 4 J. Peers 1 3

Dame 4 7 3 4 11 Allen 1 2 0 2

Long 2 4 0 1 4 Redmond 7 23 0 16

McClay 0 0 0 0 0 Mulherin 1 2

Estabrook 0 2 0 0 0

Totals 10 31 3 5 24 Totals 12 37 31

CAHS 1 9 19 24

LCS/MSSM 12 18 28 31

3-pt. goals – (CAHS 1-7): Day 1-3, Bradley 0-3, Graham 0-1; (LCS/MSSM 4-13): Redmond 2-7, K. Peers 2-3, King 0-2, J. Peers 0-1

PANDAS 66, COUGARS 43

Katahdin (8-12) Lee Academy (16-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Cyr 3 6 1 2 7 Gifford 3 10 0 6

Bates 6 12 1 2 13 Harris 2 4 7

Smallwood 1 3 1 2 3 Mallett 0 0 0

R. Rob’sn 3 8 0 0 6 Slevinsky 0 0

Moore 1 9 0 0 2 Bird 6 12 15

Bl.-Evitts 1 1 0 0 2 Dow 2 2 4

Stevens 3 6 0 0 6 McL’ghlin 1 2

McNally 1 1 0 0 2 Ritchie 5 10 16

Heath 0 0 0 0 0 Houghton 7 12 0 2 14

Majkowski 0 0 2 4 2 Jandreau 0 2

Rush 0 1 0 0 0 Cowan 0 0 0 0

Pipes 0 1 0 0 0

Duffy 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 19 48 5 10 43 Totals 26 53 20 66

Katahdin 6 15 34 43

Lee Academy 19 32 54 66

3-pt. goals – Katahdin 0-3: Smallwood 0-1, R. Robinson 0-1, Stevens 0-1; Lee Academy 6-16: Harris 2-4, Bird 2-4, Ritchie 2-5, Gifford 0-2, Jandreau 0-1