BANGOR – It took 21/2 quarters for Michelle Paul and Katelyn DeRaps to find their shot in Wednesday evening’s Eastern Maine Class B semifinal.

Once the two Mattanawcook Academy guards started making baskets, however, it was hard to shut them down.

Paul and DeRaps combined to help the No. 3 Lynx of Lincoln overcome an 8-point deficit in the third quarter and then hold off No. 2 John Bapst of Bangor 42-39 at the Bangor Auditorium.

The 19-2 Lynx meet unbeaten top seed Waterville (20-0) – a 54-31 winner over No. 4 Erskine Academy of South China in the late game – in the regional final Saturday afternoon.

In the first game, Bapst, which beat Mattanawcook 45-37 on Jan. 21, was the EM runner-up to Waterville last year.

Bapst’s Morgan Chasse had a game-high 20 points.

Paul finished with 17 points and went 4-for-7 from the field in the second half. She hit three of her four 3-point attempts in that period. DeRaps, a freshman backup, was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc en route to 11 points.

“Sometimes they let us take middle and so we took middle,” Paul said. “Sometimes they sagged off. So obviously we’re going to take advantage and shoot the 3. Katelyn stepped up huge.”

Those 3-pointers helped MA get back into the game in the third quarter. DeRaps hit two in a row as MA went from a 28-23 deficit to a 29-28 lead with 4.3 seconds left in the period. DeRaps hit another one 26 seconds into the fourth quarter, and the Lynx led the rest of the way.

“You can’t give those [shots] to them,” Bapst coach Mike Webb said. “We didn’t play defense and shut them down. We got outrebounded and outhustled.”

Paul’s first two 3-pointers came midway through the third as MA started its rally. She drained another with 4:07 left in the fourth to put MA up by seven.

Bapst wouldn’t go away, however, and whittled the lead down to 40-37 on two Amber Estes free throws with 2:17 left. After a stretch of fouls, turnovers and missed shots, Mattanawcook’s Brianna Hanscom put in two free throws for the 5-point cushion.

Chasse nailed a 17-footer with 9.1 seconds left and got off a 3-point shot with about three seconds left but her attempt hit the back of the rim. The Lynx were whistled for a foul on the rebound when time expired, but it was a two-shot foul, which would have been one point shy for the Crusaders.

MA held Bapst standout forward Hillary Laferriere to four points and only seven field-goal attempts.

“We didn’t get her the ball,” Webb said. “They were double-teaming her, leaving Chasse open to drive to the hole and leaving Gormley open. Hillary accounted for most of our points just by being on the floor and not scoring anything, with the attention she takes.”

MA’s Marjorie Nesin got the start Wednesday to take advantage of her 6-foot height against the 5-11 Laferriere and 6-foot Samantha Gormley.

In the second game, the Purple Panthers had an answer for Erskine’s dribble-and-dish offensive attack, but the Eagles didn’t have one for Morgan Frame.

“Our guards really got up on them defensively and that helped make things difficult on their offense,” Frame said. “They were getting frustrated because our guards stopped it pretty much.”

Meanwhile, Frame hit 12 of 20 shots en route to a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds – both game-highs.

“What really helped us is our shooters and because they were hitting their shots, she got single coverage and when she gets that, she’ll eat you alive,” Waterville coach Ted Rioux said.

Waterville’s junior forward had a new wrinkle for the Eagles in their third game this season. Frame hit seven of her first nine baskets from the left block.

“I’ve always been playing on the right block, but we figured they’d key on that, so we’ve really been working on that the last couple days in practice,” Frame explained.

Waterville never trailed in the game, jumped out to a commanding 21-4 lead, and never led by less than 17 in the final 20 minutes.

Waterville shot 40.4 percent from the field while holding Erskine to 21.4 percent and nine total field goals. The Panthers also owned the boards, outrebounding Erskine 16-9 on the offensive end and 37-25 overall.

Jennifer Nale had 11 points and fellow sophomore guard dished out a game-high five assists for the Panthers.

Ashley Richardson led the 16-5 Eagles with 12 points. Ashley Peaslee had seven points and five rebounds.

bdnsports@bangordailynews.net

LYNX 42, CRUSADERS 39

Mattanawcook (19-2) John Bapst (19-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Piche 0 0 0 0 0 Jordan 1 4 4

M. Paul 5 12 4 6 17 Chasse 10 20 20

Bri.Hnscm 2 4 2 4 6 Myrwitz 0 0 0

Bro.Hnscm 1 2 0 0 2 Hayden 0 0 0

Nicastro 0 0 1 2 1 Hardy 0 1 0

Libbey 0 3 0 0 0 Maquillan 1 3

DeRaps 4 10 0 1 11 Estes 0 4 2

Anderson 0 1 0 0 0 Gormley 3 8 6

Burleigh 2 2 0 0 4 Laferriere 2 4

Nesin 0 2 1 2 1

Totals 14 35 8 15 42 Totals 17 45 11 39

Mattanawcook 8 12 29 42

John Bapst 15 17 28 39

3-pt. goals – Mattanawcook (6-13): DeRaps 3-4, M. Paul 3-7, Libbey 0-2; John Bapst (0-4): Jordan 0-1, Chasse 0-1, Maquillan 0-1, Estes 0-1

PURPLE PANTHERS 54, EAGLES 31

Erskine (16-5) Waterville (20-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Thebarge 0 1 0 0 0 Tuttle 0 0 0

St.Armand 1 4 0 0 2 Sta.Whttn 0 0

Gagne 0 2 0 0 0 Gardiner 3 9

Malley 0 3 4 4 4 Pellerin 0 0

Potter 0 1 0 0 0 Ste.Whttn 0 0

Clark 0 3 0 0 0 T.Frame 0 0 1

Peaslee 2 4 3 3 7 Nale 4 11 11

Belden 1 6 2 2 5 Hart 0 1 0

Helm 0 1 0 0 0 Russeau 0 0 0 0

Moore 0 2 0 0 0 Smith 0 1 0

Hudson 0 4 1 2 1 Reynolds 0 0

Rchrdson 5 11 2 2 12 Given 3 9 7

Bishop 1 1 0 2

M.Frame 12 20 0 24

Totals 9 42 12 13 31 Totals 23 57 54

Erskine 4 8 24 31

Waterville 17 31 43 54

3-pt. goals – Erskine (1-7): Belden 1-2, Richardson 0-1, Moore 0-1, Malley 0-1, Clark 0-2; Waterville (4-9): Gardiner 2-2, Nale 1-2, Given 1-2, Reynolds 0-1, Whitten 0-2