When coach Tom Bragg took the Hyde of Bath girls basketball team into the Augusta Civic Center locker room at halftime of last Saturday’s Western Maine Class D final against Rangeley, he reminded them his squad that the Lakers were not a team to be taken lightly.

That was enough for the Phoenix to rise from a 6-point deficit in the third quarter and beat Rangeley for Hyde’s second WM title in three years.

“I had to get on them,” Bragg said. “But they came out and did what they needed to do.”

The experience of having to rally for a win in a big game will likely help as the 20-1 Phoenix prepare to face Eastern Maine champion Lee Academy this Saturday for the Class D state championship game at the Bangor Auditorium.

Saturday’s 1 p.m. contest is a rematch of the 2005 Class D title game which the Pandas won 64-25. Three Hyde players, senior center Eliza Skakel, senior forward Chelsea Malen and junior guard Mahalia Gauld, return from that Phoenix team as does Bragg, who was then an assistant coach.

Lee returns a host of players who appeared in that game, including juniors Aarika Ritchie, Karin Bird, Amanda Gifford, Dana Houghton, Brooke Harris, Laci McLaughlin, and Nicole Jandreau.

Hyde, which went 17-1 in the regular season with its only loss to Rangeley, never really had to rally until the Western Maine final. The experience of battling back could come in handy against the 18-3 Pandas, who tend to put away teams early and can score in bunches.

“We turned it into a positive,” Bragg said of the second-half comeback. “It helped us, for once in the season, to come back from a deficit and rally as a group. Going into the game against Lee, if we get into that situation I think it will help us out.”

Junior forward Frances Moreau led the Phoenix with 13.6 points per game in the postseason but was the top scorer in only one of Hyde’s three tourney games. Things were balanced the rest of the way, with Malen scoring 10.3 ppg, including 14 in the WM final, Gauld adding 9.3 ppg, including 18 in the semis, and backup sophomore guard Stephanie Urzua chipping in with 9.0 ppg.

Skakel, who left the Western Maine final early because of an recurring ankle injury but will be back to start Saturday, averaged 5.0 ppg.

Skakel, Moreau, Malen, senior forward Hillary Lundgren and Gauld make up Hyde’s starting lineup. Urzua and freshman Scout Gauld, Mahalia Gauld’s sister, come off the bench.

“We do a good job of moving the ball around and through the Western Maine tournament we’ve had a number of girls who have finally developed some confidence in their shooting,” Bragg said. “That’s something we’ve been working towards all year. It all came together for us in the tournament and that’s what we’ll look for on Saturday. If Hillary has a big game that will really help us.”

The 5-foot-10 Lundgren and 5-11 Skakel will give Hyde a height advantage over Lee, whose tallest starters are 5-9 Houghton and 5-9 Bird. The Phoenix, who play a 1-3-1 zone defense, will look to slow the pace and use their height to counter Lee’s aggressive full-court pressure.

In the 2005 state game the Pandas had a 33-14 halftime lead after the Phoenix had 17 turnovers in the first two quarters.

“Lee is going to force turnovers,” Bragg said. “That’s the one thing I’m going to try to get my girls not to worry too much about. I just want them to stay confident, stay in the game and keep their heads mentally into it. … We’re going to have to slow things down. If we can hang in there close we’ll see what happens down the stretch.”

Hyde can also shoot the ball, breaking the WM Class D tourney record for 3-pointers in a game with eight against Rangeley.