The John Bapst Crusaders used clutch free-throw shooting, stellar guard play, and dominated on the glass, along with a little home-court luck, to outlast the No. 6 Panthers of Waterville 35-27 in an Eastern Maine Class B girls semifinal at the Bangor Auditorium Wednesday.

Seventh-seeded John Bapst controlled the pace from start to finish and extended their perfect record on the Auditorium floor to 10-0.

The 16-5 Crusaders advance to their first-ever Eastern Maine championship game and will face No. 1 Presque Isle. The Purple Panthers finished 15-6.

Junior forward Lauren Nichols recorded a double-double by tossing in 11 points, including a 7-for-8 showing from the free throw line in the second half, and pulling down 10 rebounds.

“We can run with them, but Coach preached to us that we would win if we kept the score tight and only took good shots,” said Nichols. “Defense and free throws, that’s what wins games.”

The Crusaders were able to slow the game down to a crawl and led 9-9 going into intermission.

“We wanted to run if we could on rebounds,” said John Bapst head coach Mike Webb. “But we knew we had an advantage with our three guards, all three of them can shoot free throws really well.”

The Crusaders starting backcourt of seniors Ashley Freeman, Taylor Greenlaw, and Chere Wickstrom combined to shoot 12-for-18 from the line. The three combined for 18 points, eight coming from Freeman, six from Greenlaw, and four for Wickstrom.

“We were only getting one shot and just standing and watching,” said Waterville head coach Julie Bradstreet. “We let them do what they wanted and when they would drive, we would foul.”

John Bapst outscored Waterville 23-1 from the foul line.

Sophomore Sarah Given led the Panthers with eight points and freshman Morgan Frame chipped in with four points and seven rebounds.

“We knew that if we shut down [junior Elizabeth] Bell and Givens and keep their big players off the boards, we’d be OK,” said Webb. “We really wanted to spread the floor and force them to play us.”

Bell finished with six points and freshman Stephanie Whitten dished out four assists.

Waterville tied the game at 25 on a Given 3-pointer with just under three minutes left in the fourth. Nichols tossed in a baseline jumper on the ensuing possession to give the Crusaders the lead for good. John Bapst went 5-for-6 from the line in the final minute of the game to seal the win.

CRUSADERS 35, PURPLE PANTHERS 27

John Bapst (15-6) Waterville (16-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Freeman 1 6 6 8 8 Whitten 0 2 0

Nichols 2 9 7 8 11 Bell 3 8 6

Greenlaw 2 4 2 4 6 Frame 2 8 4

Wickstrom 0 6 4 4 4 Given 3 9 8

LaFerriere 1 2 4 6 6 Plaisted 2 4

Jordan 0 0 0 0 0 Chmpgne 1 3 3

Gibson 0 0 0 0 0 Van Dyne 1 2

McGuan 0 0 0 0 0 Pellerin 0 Gardiner 0 0 0 0 0 Hart 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 6 27 23 30 35 Totals 12 36 27

John Bapst 5 9 19 35

Waterville 3 9 18 27

3-pt. goals – John Bapst (0-6): Freeman 0-2, Wickstrom 0-4; Waterville (2-7): Given 2-4, Whitten 0-1, Bell 0-2