AUGUSTA – Second-ranked Edward Little of Auburn powered its way into Friday night’s Eastern Maine Class A boys basketball final by overwhelming No. 6 Lawrence of Fairfield 57-29 in a regional semifinal Wednesday at the Augusta Civic Center.

The Red Eddies (16-4) will face top-ranked Bangor in Friday’s regional championship game. The Rams defeated No. 5 Mt. Blue of Farmington 44-21 in Wednesday’s late game.

Edward Little used its perimeter quickness to dominate play in the first half while building a 27-12 lead. So effective was the Red Eddies’ defense that Lawrence managed just 16 field-goal attempts in the opening two quarters while committing 15 turnovers.

EL also sagged its man-to-man defense inside against 6-foot-6 Lawrence center Wes Sexton, who went scoreless on the night and managed just two field-goal tries – both in the fourth quarter after the game was long decided.

Lawrence’s Alex Poulin scored the game’s first basket to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead, but EL countered with 11 unanswered points, including four apiece by guard Ben Hartnett and center Corey Therriault.

The Red Eddies led 16-4 at the quarter break, then built the margin to as much as 25-7 on a three-point play and a 3-point shot by Therriault on back-to-back possessions.

Hartnett finished with a game-high 19 points for coach Mike Adams’ club, while Therriault added 12 points and 11 rebounds and senior guard Eric Prue contributed nine points for EL, all in the third quarter when the Red Eddies outscored Lawrence 22-12 to extend its lead to 47-24.

Matt Perkins led Lawrence offensively with nine points, all in the second half.

The Bulldogs, who edged No. 3 Hampden Academy 49-46 in the quarterfinals, finished their season with a 12-9 record.

Lawrence (12-9) 29

Costigan 2-1-5, Carey, Spaulding 3-0-6, Haney 1-0-3, Belanger, Violette 1-0-3, Klein, Champagne, Perkins 4-1-9, Moody, Karter, Poulin 1-1-3, Fleming, Mosher, Sexton

Edward Little (16-4) 57

K. Philbrook 1-3-5, Hartnett 6-6-19, Prue 3-2-9, Tribou, Mariner, Therriault 5-1-12, Daigle 1-0-2, J. Philbrook 2-1-5, Sharif 2-1-5, Iman

3-pt. goals: Haney, Violette; Hartnett, Prue, Therriault

Lawrence 4 12 24 29

Edward Little 16 27 41 57

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