BANGOR – Lee Academy applies defensive pressure with two goals in mind – the short-term gain of forcing turnovers, and the cumulative effect of inducing opponent fatigue.

The top-ranked Pandas used both of those fruits of their defensive intensity to wear down No. 4 Limestone Community School-Maine School of Science and Mathematics 46-38 in an Eastern Maine Class D girls basketball semifinal at the Bangor Auditorium on Thursday afternoon.

The win sends 17-3 Lee to Saturday’s EM final against No. 2 Washburn, which edged Greater Houlton Christian Academy 49-47 in Thursday’s other semifinal.

Junior guard Aarika Ritchie led Lee with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Amanda Gifford added 11 points and Brooke Harris scored nine.

Lauren Redmond, a 5-foot-10 senior guard, scored 14 points for Limestone. Julie Peers, a 5-9 senior forward, added nine points and 10 rebounds, while 5-9 junior forward Melanie Alleen had eight points and 12 rebounds.

Limestone (16-5) used its height advantage to outrebound Lee 17-6 in the first half, and built a 23-12 lead midway through the second quarter.

But coach Ron Weatherbee’s Lee club forced some late Eagles’ turnovers and scored seven straight points to draw within 23-19 by intermission.

That spurt evolved into a 16-0 run as Lee opened the second half with nine straight points thanks to a renewed commitment to rebounding, with a putback by Gifford giving the Pandas a 28-23 lead with 6:05 left in the third quarter.

“At halftime we talked a lot about boxing out because we really weren’t doing that much in the first half,” said Ritchie. “We needed to box out and settle down and play our game and push the tempo.”

Limestone wasn’t done, finally answering with a Redmond 3-pointer and two free throws by Peers to forge a 28-28 tie midway through the period.

Allen then took a feed from Britany King for a layup and added a follow-up basket to give the Eagles a 32-29 lead late in the in the third quarter, before Lee applied the knockout punch with 14 unanswered points against the tiring Eagles.

Gifford hit a game-tying 3-pointer as time expired in the third quarter, and Dana Houghton scored from the lane and added a free throw early in the fourth to give the Pandas the lead for good.

Ritchie followed with a fast-break jumper and Karin Bird scored off a nice spin move and fed Harris for a layup before Ritchie capped off the run with a baseline jumper to give Lee a 43-32 lead with less than four minutes left.

“We had the energy to come back from the first run,” said Limestone coach Jamie LaBreck, “but to try to come back a second time was tough for us.

“We played with them though, and that’s something the girls can be proud of. They’re not number one for nothing. They’re a solid ballclub.”

PANDAS 46, EAGLES 38

LCS/MSSM (16-5) Lee (17-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

K. Peers 1 6 0 0 3 Gifford 3 7 11

Cousins 0 0 0 0 0 Harris 3 8 9

King 1 9 0 0 2 Mallett 0 1 0 0

Haffner 0 0 0 0 0 Slevinsky 0 0

O’Sullivan 0 0 0 0 0 Bird 2 10 6

J. Peers 3 9 3 4 9 McLghln 0 0 0

St. Pierre 0 0 0 0 0 Ritchie 7 9 14

Allen 4 9 0 0 8 Cowan 0 0 0

Mulherin 0 1 0 0 0 Jandreau 0 0

Bernier 1 1 0 0 2 Houghton 2 6

Redmond 5 17 1 2 14

Totals 15 52 4 6 38 Totals 17 40 10 16 46

LCS/MSSM 13 23 32 38

Lee Acad. 11 19 32 46

3-pt. goals – LCS/MSSM (4-10): Redmond 3-5, K. Peers 1-3, King 0-2; Lee (2-13): Gifford 1-2, Harris 1-6, Bird 0-5