BANGOR – A monster rebounding effort and a couple of key free throws down the stretch helped the No. 2 Lee Academy boys basketball team hold off a hard charge from No. 3 Schenck of East Millinocket Friday afternoon in an Eastern Maine Class C semifinal.

The Pandas got double-doubles from Hakeem Rodriguez and Devan Parker, who both had their biggest rebounds and free throws in the final seconds and powered Lee to a 55-51 victory and a berth in Saturday night’s regional final. The Pandas will face No. 1 Calais, which beat No. 5 Houlton 65-51 Friday.

“We righted the ship in time to get a couple of key blockouts at the end,” Lee coach Randy Harris said. “… We play a lot of good teams and we’ve been in a lot of battles. We expect to keep scrapping and see what happens.”

Parker had 19 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, while Rodriguez added 17 points to go with 12 rebounds. Parker and Rodriguez were both fouled while going for rebounds and each made a free throw that helped stretch out Lee’s lead.

“We didn’t hit many,” Parker said of Lee’s 12-for-21 effort from the free-throw line. “But we hit enough to keep us in and pull away.”

Schenck’s Mike Lowell tossed in 16 points as the Wolverines battled back from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter. His biggest shot was a 3-pointer with 48.4 seconds remaining in the game that cut Lee’s lead to 53-51.

Lowell was camped on the left side of the arc when Aaron Hutchins passed him the ball from the top of the key against a Lee zone.

Schenck missed some late rebounds, however, and Rodriguez was fouled when he grabbed the rebound of a missed 3-point attempt by Lanny Thompson. He made one of two free throws for a 54-51 lead with 12.9 seconds remaining. Parker tracked down a rebound with 3.5 seconds left, also after Thompson missed a 3-pointer, and made the first of two foul shots for a key four-point lead.

“We knew they were going to fight back pretty strong,” Rodriguez said. “We just had to play with heart and get every rebound.”

Schenck’s zone defense in the first half didn’t bother Lee too much. The Pandas had a 31-19 halftime lead and hit 15 of their 28 field-goal attempts.

“We just dug a whole too big in the first half,” Schenck coach Steve LeVasseur said. “But we played hard in the second half and showed what we were made of.”

The Pandas outrebounded the Wolverines 47-27.

Hutchins, Thompson (seven rebounds) and Jared Waite all scored nine points. Lewis had eight points and five rebounds.

Waite did all of his scoring and had all five of his rebounds in the fourth quarter.

Lee’s Luis Medina contributed seven points, nine rebounds and four assists.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

990-8193

PANDAS 55, WOLVERINES 51

Schenck (16-4) Lee (15-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Hutchins 4 11 0 0 9 Rodrguez 5 10 7 10 17

McLaughln 0 1 0 0 0 Bingham 0 2 0

Lowell 7 17 0 2 16 Harris 0 3 0

Waite 3 5 3 7 9 Parker 7 12 11 19

Thompson 4 11 1 2 9 MacDnld 3 8 8

Lewis 4 9 0 0 8 Norris 0 2 0

Doty 2 6 0 4

Medina 3 8 0 7

Beers 0 0 0 0

Totals 22 54 4 11 51 Totals 20 51 12 21 55

Schenck 11 19 31 51

Lee 21 31 40 55

3-pt. goals – Schenck (3-17): Lowell 2-9, Hutchins 1-5, Thompson 0-3; Lee (3-13): MacDonald 2-4, Medina 1-3, Harris 0-1, Bingham 0-2, Doty 0-3