BANGOR – In the end – actually, in the beginning – the pressure, specifically Lee Academy’s, was just too much for the Washburn girls.

The top-seeded Pandas harassed the Beavers unmercifully with a full-court trap and man-to-man defensive pressure, then put on a ball movement and passing clinic to open up with a scoring barrage Washburn could never recover from.

Lee Academy scored the first eight points of the game, 13 straight, and then took an early 23-2 lead en route to an emphatic 65-37 Eastern Maine Class D championship win over No. 2 Washburn at the Bangor Auditorium Saturday morning.

This is the second regional title in three years for the 18-3 Pandas, who will take on West champion Hyde of Bath at 1 p.m. Saturday in Bangor for the state crown. Washburn wound up 14-8.

Lee served notice early it was going to make things difficult for Washburn’s offense as it employed a 1-2-2 trap to keep the Beavers from scoring in the first 2 minutes, 40 seconds while causing five turnovers. The Beavers would make 17 turnovers in the half and 30 in the game.

“We haven’t really seen anything quite that consistently good,” Washburn coach Ron Ericson said of Lee’s defense. “They’d lure you into the traps and it was camouflaged a bit so you’d think you’d have more time and space than what they really let you have.

“They get their hands on the ball and they block the passing lanes well. They’re very good at it and we can’t duplicate that kind of defensive pressure in practice.”

Even when the Beavers scored 10 straight points in the final quarter, the closest they ever got to Lee after the first quarter was 21 points.

That’s because Lee was equally adept on the offensive end Saturday, shooting a robust 51.6 percent from the field in the first half and improving to 52.2 percent in the second.

“Defensively, we did a great job, but once we ended up with the ball, we were very unselfish,” said Lee coach Ron Weatherbee. “There were a number of times when we had people semi-open, but we’d make the extra pass or wait for someone else to get more open.”

The most open of the “more open” was junior guard Amanda Gifford, who hit 12 of 18 shots for a game-high 24 points to go with five assists (also a game high), four rebounds, and three steals.

“I think that’s the best job we’ve done moving the ball,” said a beaming Gifford. “We felt very relaxed and confident. After we got the rebounds, we ran the floor, and we haven’t done that in awhile. Our ball movement on the zone really helped us, too.”

Lee outshot Washburn by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, 51.9 to 28.6 percent from the floor.

“They’re very mature and they know what they’re doing,” Ericson said. “There aren’t an awful lot of things they do out there that aren’t impressive.”

Even though they didn’t miss much, the Pandas also beat Washburn on the boards: 25-18 defensively and 33-32 overall.

“Last year we had a hard time boxing out and getting rebounds, so we put pressure on their ballhandlers and rebounded much better,” said Gifford, one of eight returning players determined to erase the memory of a quarterfinal upset loss last season.

Karin Bird had a solid all-around game for Lee with 12 points, four assists, four steals, and three rebounds. Dana Houghton had eight points, seven boards, and three assists.

Kelsee McLaughlin led Washburn with 13 points, five rebounds and four steals. Erica McDougall chipped in with eight points, five rebounds, and two assists.

PANDAS 65, BEAVERS 37

Washburn (14-8) Lee Acad. (18-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Berube 1 1 0 0 2 Gifford 12 18 24

Chandler 0 1 0 0 0 Harris 2 8 5

McLghlin 5 12 3 4 13 Mallett 0 0 0

Amb.Reed 0 1 0 1 0 Slevinsky 1 3

Huston 0 2 0 0 0 Bird 5 6 12

McDougall 2 10 3 4 8 Dow 0 0 0

AmyReed 1 2 0 0 2 McLghlin 0 1

Bird 1 9 0 1 2 Ritchie 3 6 0 7

S.Cochran 1 4 1 2 3 Cowan 0 1 0

F.Cochran 0 0 1 2 1 McGraw 1 4 2

Palmer 3 7 0 0 6 Jandreau 1 3

Houghton 3 6 8

Totals 14 49 8 14 37 Totals 28 54 12 65

Washburn 2 9 21 37

Lee 23 36 51 65

3-pt. goals – Washburn (1-3): McDougal 1-2, Amb. Reed 0-1; Lee (2-4): Ritchie 1-1, Harris 1-2, Gifford 0-1