BANGOR – Penquis Valley High School junior guard Megan Russell had a rough first half.

But she made up for it in the second half.

Russell, 0-for-8 from the floor over the first 16 minutes, had 12 second-half points and two assists as the second-seeded Patriots pulled away from youthful seventh seed Dexter 53-34 in their Eastern Maine Class C quarterfinal at the Bangor Auditorium Monday night.

Milo-based Penquis, 17-2, will face No. 3 Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln, a 49-44 winner over Washington Academy of East Machias, in Friday’s 2:05 p.m. semifinal. They split regular season games.

“My dad [Penquis coach Wally Russell] told me to keep shooting,” said Megan. “Once I hit that first one, it helped my confidence.”

Her first one was a 3-pointer 1:16 into the second half which gave Penquis a 28-23 lead.

Later in the period, she sank another 3-pointer from the top of the key and drilled a foul-line jumper seconds later to build the lead to 38-32.

Brittany Veazie’s runner from the foul line with 1:30 left in the quarter pulled Dexter within 38-32 but that would be the Tigers’ last field goal of the game.

Lindsay Hamlin’s put-back and two Lillian Gerrish free throws closed out the quarter and Penquis went on an 8-1 run to open the fourth quarter and put the game away.

Penquis’ 2-3 zone gave the Tigers trouble as it forced them to shoot outside and they went just 10-for-40 from the floor, including a 4-for-25 performance in the second half.

“We’re young and we’ve had trouble scoring all year,” said Dexter coach Margaret Veazie.

Hamlin finished with a game-high 18 points, including 10-for-11 shooting from the foul line.

Russell had 16 and April Allen contributed 14 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.

Penquis shot 24-for-28 from the foul line.

Kristy Veazie’s 11 points led Dexter. Ashley Foster had eight points and five rebounds; Karen Nelson chipped in with seven points and six rebounds and Kristin Gilbert had 10 rebounds to go with five points.

Patriots 53, Tigers 34

Dexter (15-6) Penquis (17-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

B. Veazie 1 6 0 0 2 Russell 4 14 16

K. Veazie 4 7 0 2 11 L. Hamlin 4 10 11 18

Nelson 2 7 2 3 7 Allen 4 9 14

Foster 1 7 6 10 8 Cail 0 2 1

Gilbert 2 7 1 3 5 Robinson 0 0

Haiko 0 0 0 0 0 J. Hamlin 1 2

Belanger 0 2 0 0 0 L. Gerrish 0 2

Hogan 0 3 1 2 1 B. Hamlin 0 0

Patterson 0 1 0 0 0 Morrill 0 0 0

Pullen 0 0 0 0 0 S. Gerrish 0 0

Rabideau 0 0 0 0 0 Dolley 0 0 0

Turner 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 10 40 10 20 34 13 38 24 28 53

Dexter 13 21 32 34

Penquis 11 25 42 53

3-pt. goals: Dexter (4-12) K. Veazie 3-5, Nelson 1-2, Hogan 0-2, B. Veazie 0-2, Patterson 0-1; Penquis (2-7) Russell 2-4, Allen 1-2, L. Hamlin 0-1