BANGOR – What a way to start the Eastern Maine Class B girls basketball tournament, and what a way to celebrate a birthday.

Facing small but quick No. 2 Winslow, the No. 7 Foxcroft Academy girls turned to inside threats Amy Kelley and Leslie Glover.

The 5-foot-11 Glover, who turned 18 Friday, finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, grabbed a key rebound and made two free throws to ice a 55-52 victory over the Black Raiders at the Bangor Auditorium Friday afternoon.

The Ponies, now 14-6, will face Erskine Academy of South China on Wednesday in a 2:05 p.m. semifinal. No. 3 Erskine defeated No. 6 Mount View of Thorndike 66-62.

Winslow, which returns all of its players next year, wraps up its season at 14-5. Bethany Roderigue torched Foxcroft from outside, hitting five 3-pointers en route to a game-high 25 points.

The Ponies racked up 32 turnovers but were poised in the face of Winslow’s tough full-court press. Foxcroft had a 43-23 rebounding edge (Kelley, a 6-footer, led the way with 16 rebounds to go with 19 points).

The Ponies may be tall, but they’ve handled pressing teams this season, and can throw in a full-court defense of their own.

“We are really athletic,” Glover said. “We had some turnovers, but we got it together when we needed to and we won.”

The teams went back and forth for much of the game, but the Ponies kicked off the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run of their own and took a 44-40 lead. Roderigue hit a jumper and a 3-pointer to put Winslow back on top, but Dana Frasz tied it up on a conventional 3-point play.

Roderigue fouled out later in the fourth and there were five lead changes in the final 2:30. Kelley put FA up for good when she scored off a rebound with 45.9 seconds left to make it 53-52.

“Kelley did a great job on lob passing and she did a great job of finishing when she got the ball inside and so did Glover,” Winslow coach Jim Poulin said. “Those kids inside, with their size and athleticism, it really hurt us.”

Winslow’s Emily Moores missed a shot with 3.6 seconds left. Glover was fouled as she grabbed the rebound, and calmly sank the two free throws to seal it. Katie Souviney took a shot for the Raiders as time expired, but the ball sailed over the backboard.

Ponies 55, Black Raiders 52

Foxcroft girls (14-6) Winslow (14-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Nichols 1 12 1 2 3 Helberg 0 5 2 2

Frasz 3 8 3 3 9 Flaherty 2 8 7

LaBree 1 2 0 1 2 LaPointe 2 3 4

Merrill 0 0 0 0 0 Moores 1 2 0 2

Kelley 8 9 3 9 19 Souviney 5 10 12

Champeon 1 1 0 0 2 Roderigue 10 21 0 0 25

Glover 9 13 2 3 20

Dow 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 23 45 9 18 55 20 49 7 12 52

Foxcroft 12 23 35 55

Winslow 6 24 40 52

3-pt. goals: Foxcroft (0-7): Nichols 0-7; Winslow (5-12): Roderigue 5-11, LaPointe 0-1