BANGOR – The Lee Academy boys basketball team is proof that a record can be deceiving.

The Pandas finished the regular season with a modest 10-8 record, but the quality of those wins not only landed coach Randy Harris’ team in fifth place in the final Eastern Maine Class D standings, but set them up to handle tight late-game situations come playoff time.

“All nine teams we played during the year made the tournament, at least the prelim round,” said Harris. “I’ve coached 22 years and always had two or three teams on the schedule that were 1-17 or 3-15, but we had nine tournament teams on the schedule this year and that certainly made us better.”

After Monday’s 61-56 quarterfinal victory over Katahdin of Stacyville, Lee will enter Thursday’s semifinals having split two-game series with two of the other three teams still standing, Schenck of East Millinocket and Deer Isle-Stonington.

Lee and Central Aroostook of Mars Hills didn’t meet during the season.

“We played two No. 1 teams back to back [Schenck and Deer Isle-Stonington] and beat them both in close games,” said Lee junior guard Peter Pickering. “We also beat Katahdin at their place [when the Cougars were 10-0], and it’s made us stronger by playing in close games and keeping our heads in close games.”

That composure under pressure proved crucial during the third quarter of their quarterfinal win, when Lee fell behind 40-28 after the Pandas’ bench had been assessed a technical foul for an illegal substitution.

“A lot of teams would have rolled over, but we’d already been in 18 dogfights this year,” said Harris. “The kids really bailed me out, that was just a stupid coaching mistake.”

Powers a tower for Mariners

Eben Powers has had the best of both worlds as a freshman forward for the Deer Isle-Stonington boys basketball team.

He’s been able to practice and suit up for both the varsity and junior varsity teams.

“He has worked double practices and come in for morning shootaround every single day this year,” said Deer Isle-Stonington coach Glenn Billings. “He loves basketball, and we put him on the jayvees and swung him back and forth just to get him some experience.

“We knew the talent was there, and we were just hoping he would break out.”

That breakout came during his tournament debut Monday, when he came off the bench to score four points, grab four rebounds and hold his own defensively against Jonesport-Beals standout Ross Griffin after teammate Collin Ciomei got into foul trouble.

“We knew he could match Griffin jumping-wise because he can really get up there,” said Billings, whose team advanced to Thursday’s semifinals with a 65-59 win. “We’re just so proud of him.”

The 5-foot-10 Powers had seen limited varsity duty this winter, but did see considerable time in the Mariners’ regular-season finale against Bangor Christian.

But the tournament? That was another story, until he was called upon to step forward on Eastern Maine’s biggest basketball stage.

“I didn’t expect to play as much as I did today, especially being a freshman,” said Powers.

Ciomei, just a sophomore, was appreciative of Powers’ contribution against the Royals.

“He’s a freshman, and he’s been wanting to play,” said Ciomei. “He was extremely nervous about this game, he was telling me how he didn’t want to come in, but when he came in he helped us big time.”