BANGOR – Nokomis girls basketball coach Earl Anderson knows there’s something special about his Warriors. Ask him to define it, though, and he has some trouble.

“We can use the word poise, we can use mental toughness, discipline,” Anderson said after Thursday’s Eastern Maine Class A matchup against Skowhegan. “But I don’t think there’s one word I can use.”

Maybe it’s more instructive to look at the final moments of Thursday’s game. After three quarters of struggling on offense, the No. 2 Warriors of Newport came alive in the fourth. Lindsey Welch made two big 3-pointers, Michelle Murray hit another, and a supreme defensive effort led to a 41-40 come-from-behind victory over the No. 3 Indians.

The win sends 19-1 Nokomis to Saturday’s 7:05 p.m. Eastern Maine Class A final, where it will face Cony of Augusta for the third straight year.

The Indians (17-3) played well on both ends of the floor through three quarters, and took a 31-21 lead into the fourth.

But Nokomis opened the final period with a 7-0 run. Miss Maine Basketball finalist Danielle Clark made two free throws and after a Skowhegan turnover, Welch dropped in her first 3-pointer off a pass from Gillian Snow to make it 31-26.

The Indians turned the ball over again about 20 seconds later and Murray converted that possession into two free throws to get Nokomis within three points.

“When we were really struggling to put the ball in the basket, I thought our defense still kept us in it,” Anderson said. “I think they got a little tentative, back on their heels. We were more in their face and I think that generated some enthusiasm and some offense.”

The teams battled back and forth with Welch hitting a 3-pointer with 2:40 left to give the Warriors their first lead since the first quarter.

“Lindsey picked it up and that brought a lot of confidence to our team,” Murray said.

Skowhegan’s Ashley Hilton (17 points) made a free throw and put back a rebound with 44.6 seconds left to give the Indians a 38-37 edge, but Murray made a 3-pointer off a Clark pass with 29.3 remaining.

Murray (10 points) went to the line 21 seconds later for two free throw attempts that would have given Nokomis a four-point cushion. She made both shots, but one was called back on a lane violation.

Skowhegan’s Kala Thompson (14 points) put back a missed 3-point shot with less than two seconds left, but the Warriors ran off the clock.

Skowhegan had a 21-13 halftime lead. The Indians held Clark to 2-for-11 shooting from the floor and made it tough going inside for the 6-foot-1 forward.

“Our defense was just tremendous,” said Skowhegan senior Amy McDaniel, who guarded Murray. “We played our best defense all year and our offense was excellent, too.”

Clark finished with 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Cony and Nokomis last played in a Christmas tournament game. The Rams won that 58-33 and also won last year’s EM final matchup 48-39.

WARRIORS 41, INDIANS 40

Skowhegan (17-3) Nokomis (19-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Gibson 0 0 0 0 0 Welch 3 8 8

Paradis 1 6 0 0 3 Murray 3 7 10

Berry 1 1 0 0 2 Snow 0 2 1

Franklin 0 0 0 0 0 Paradis 0 1 0

Ballard 2 6 0 0 4 Merrow 0 0 0

McDaniel 0 4 0 0 0 Lowe 2 3 4

Hilton 8 13 1 4 17 Clark 6 23 18

Thompson 5 9 4 4 14

Totals 17 39 5 8 40 14 44 10 15 41

Skowhegan 13 21 31 40

Nokomis 8 13 21 41

3-pt. goals ? Skowhegan (1-7): Paradis 1-2, Ballard 0-2, McDaniel 0-2, Hilton 0-1; Nokomis (3-15): Welch 2-6, Murray 1-7, Snow 0-1, Clark 0-1