A fast start was the common denominator for the winners in Monday morning’s Eastern Maine Class D schoolgirl quarterfinals at the Bangor Auditorium.

In the opener, third seed Central Aroostook of Mars Hill scored the game’s first seven points en route to a 14-2 run that helped subdue sixth-seeded Bangor Christian 63-45.

In the second game, second seed Woodland rattled off 11 unanswered points after surrendering the game-opening basket and the Dragons went on to post a 78-28 victory over seventh seed Jonesport-Beals.

Woodland, now 17-3, and 18-2 Central Aroostook will meet in Thursday’s 7:05 p.m. semifinal at the Auditorium.

Sarah Long and Amber Bradley each had 10 points in the first quarter as Central Aroostook built a 26-11 lead.

Bangor Christian couldn’t get within 14 the rest of the way.

“Getting the quick lead encouraged us. And we were able to relax a bit,” said Long, who opened the seven-point run by banking in her own rebound.

She then stole a pass that eventually led to a Bradley 3-pointer. The Patriots were guilty of traveling and Kayla Day fed Bradley for a jumper from the corner.

“When I’m hot, I’m hot,” said Bradley, who was quick to point out she has had games when she hasn’t shot well, too.

BC’s Hannah Pray ended the drought with a foul line jumper, but Central Aroostook rattled off seven more unanswered points with short jumpers from Robyn Graham and Alex Dame sandwiching two Bradley free throws and one more from Long.

A 5-3 Bangor Christian run, with all five points coming from Katherine Bragg, cut it to 17-7, but CA scored the next nine points with Long scoring seven of them.

The smaller Patriots had no answer for the 5-foot-10 Long, who finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and six steals, all game-highs.

Bradley finished with 19 points, Dame contributed 11 points and seven rebounds and Day had a game-high nine assists to go with seven rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals. Robyn Graham had three steals and three assists.

Katie Libby’s 15 points, three steals and three rebounds led 15-5 Bangor Christian. Katherine Bragg had 11 points, Kelly Robinson had 10 points and five rebounds and Hope Johnson grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Pray had three assists and three steals.

“Their size and our slow start were the difference,” said BC coach Phil Robinson.

In the Woodland-Jonesport-Beals game, senior forward Courtney Cochran led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds, both game-highs. She also had three assists and three steals.

Rachel Torrey scored 15 points and chipped in with three assists. Kelsey Gabriel scored 10 points.

Woodland went 26-for-29 from the foul line and outrebounded Jonesport-Beals 27-13.

All five starters scored in the 11-point run and Woodland’s 1-2-2 full-court press forced seven J-B turnovers in the first three minutes.

“We did a very good job on the press today,” said Cochran.

“The press gets our momentum up,” said Torrey.

“They’re a very good team and they have an excellent press,” said J-B senior guard Brittany Alley.

Royalettes coach Skipper Alley said the Dragons “shot a lot better outside” than he anticipated.

“We did a lot of good things on the perimeter,” concurred Cochran, who had eight second-quarter points as Woodland stretched its lead to 35-14 at the half.

Jessica MacLean and Hannah Carver had nine points apiece for 11-9 Jonesport-Beals, which was making its first tourney appearance in eight years. Carver had a team-high four rebounds. BreAnna Beal finished with eight points and three rebounds.

“Since we haven’t been here in eight years, I think the girls were a little scared, a little timid,” said Skipper Alley, who lost valuable freshman guard Brandee Beal to a knee injury suffered in practice prior to the tourney.

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

990-8231

PANTHERS 63, PATRIOTS 45

Bangor Christian (15-5) CAHS (18-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Bragg 4 7 3 4 11 Bradley 7 16 19

Pray 3 14 0 1 6 Day 0 0 1 1

Robinson 1 5 7 8 10 Graham 2 3 5

H.Johnson 0 7 2 2 2 Dame 5 5 11

Libby 5 12 3 3 15 S. Long 10 16 14 27

Holmes 0 2 0 0 0 B. Hartin 0 0

Bean 0 2 1 4 1 C. Hartin 0 0 0

E.Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 Estabrook 0 0

Ramirez 0 1 0 0 0 McClay 0 0 0

Roman 0 0 0 0 0 K. Long 0 0 0

Simon 0 0 0 0 0 Mean 0 0 0

Totals 13 50 16 22 45 Totals 24 41 12 25 63

Bangor Christian 11 20 27 45

Central Aroostook 26 36 58 63

3-pt. goals – Bangor Christian (3-13): Libby 2-5, Robinson 1-3, Pray 0-2, Holmes 0-2, H. Johnson 0-1; Central Aroostook (3-6): Bradley 3-6

DRAGONS 78, ROYALETTES 28

Jonesport-Beals (11-9) Woodland (17-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Alley 0 2 0 0 0 Laking 3 6 6

Bre. Beal 4 11 0 0 8 Knights 3 6 6

V. M’Lean 0 0 0 0 0 Torrey 6 12 15

Carver 4 13 1 3 9 Nicholas 3 7

T. Libby 1 1 0 0 2 Cochran 5 6 18

Jones 0 1 0 0 0 White 1 5 4

M. M’Lean 0 1 0 0 0 Gabriel 4 4 10

J. M’Lean 3 8 0 1 9 Bergin 1 1 6

Todd 0 1 0 0 0 Boomer 0 1 4 4

Crowley 0 4 0 0 0 Parks 0 1 2

Norton 0 0 0 0 0 McGinley 0 0

Totals 12 42 1 4 28 Totals 26 50 26 29 78

Jonesport-Beals 8 14 18 28

Woodland 15 35 54 78

3-pt. goals – Jonesport-Beals (3-8): J. MacLean 3-6, Crowley 0-2; Woodland (0-0)