BANGOR – Adam Duplisea has developed a reputation as one of Eastern Maine’s top outside shooters.

But the 6-foot-3 senior took his game closer to the basket during Saturday’s Class B boys basketball quarterfinal at the Bangor Auditorium, scoring 27 points and grabbing nine rebounds as fifth-ranked Hermon outlasted fourth-seeded Ellsworth 70-63 in overtime.

The 13-6 Hawks will face top ranked Foxcroft Academy, a 59-42 winner over Presque Isle, in Wednesday’s regional semifinals.

“At first the outside shot wasn’t really working, so I figured I’d try down low,” said Duplisea, who shot 10 of 20 from the field. “I’ve been more of a 3-point shooter, but at the end of the season, I’ve played more underneath, and my game’s really come along down there.”

Duplisea scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the decisive presence in a battle of teams that split two regular-season meetings.

“I told my kids in our locker room that today we didn’t have anyone better than Adam Duplisea,” said Ellsworth coach Dan Clifford. “He took over the game and we didn’t have anyone step up and try to defend him or counter him. When you have the best player on the floor, you’re going to win 90 percent of the games, and he kicked our butt.”

Duplisea’s only “mistake” came 24 seconds into overtime, when he missed a free throw after scoring a basket to give Hermon a 50-48 lead.

No matter. He scored again a moment later to give the Hawks a 52-50 edge, and Hermon then made 18 consecutive free throws to thwart any Ellsworth comeback.

Phil Cayford made six of the 18, while Jesse Keith (15 points) and Duplisea made four apiece and Jason Shorey and Adam Gould added two each.

“Free throws have been a concern in our last few games,” said Hermon coach Alan Tweedie. “We’ve always been solid in Big East B, we’ve been right up there all year, but toward the end of the season we let ourselves down a little bit with that.

“But when we needed to come up big, we did. I had my best foul shooters on the floor and they really performed well.”

Corey DeWitt led 14-5 Ellsworth with 15 points, while Andy Tracy added 14 despite foul trouble that sidelined the 6-3 sophomore for much of the game. Joey DeWitt chipped in with 12 points.

In Saturday’s second game, Foxcroft rode the versatility of junior Bobby Gilbert and strong defense to its third win of the season over ninth-ranked Presque Isle.

Gilbert scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and also handled point-guard duties while teammate Josh Withee was sidelined with foul trouble.

“Today was just one of those games where I thought, I’ve got to come out gunning, I can’t be hesitant down here,'” Gilbert said. “I’ve been hesitant my first two years; I was kind of nervous. But I’m growing up, and I’ve just got to keep playing with all my heart out there.”

Gilbert’s biggest basket came midway through the third quarter, after Presque Isle had sliced a 36-26 halftime deficit to 37-31 on a 3-pointer by Matt McGlinn.

The 5-11 Gilbert answered immediately with a 15-foot jumper, sparking a run of nine unanswered points that essentially put this game away.

Brandon Hall, a 6-8 senior, added 12 points for the 17-2 Ponies and junior forward Matt Carey finished with eight points, 11 rebounds, and three blocked shots while anchoring the Ponies’ inside defense against a Presque Isle front line that averaged 6-5.

Kyle Rideout, a 6-4 junior, led 11-9 Presque Isle with 12 points.

Perimeter play sparked the Ponies to an early lead. The Presque Isle defense dared Withee to shoot from beyond the 3-point arc, so he did, making two shots from long range to give Foxcroft an 8-5 lead. His second 3-pointer sparked a 7-0 run, with Gilbert adding two free throws and a fast-break layup that give the Ponies a 12-5 advantage with 4:32 left in the first quarter.

Guard Lincoln Robinson (eight points, four steals) added a 3-pointer and a steal-layup as Foxcroft extended its lead to 22-13 late in the period.

A 3-pointer by Presque Isle’s Chris Carlin cut the gap to six by the end of the period, but Gilbert outscored the Wildcats 9-2 over the first four minutes of the second quarter as Foxcroft pushed its lead to 31-18.

That run came despite Withee drawing his third foul and sitting out the last 7:14 of the half.

“One of the things I was happiest about was being able to play without Withee for long periods of time and keep our wits about us and still run our offense and have patience,” said Foxcroft coach David Carey. “A lot of teams will buckle a little bit with their point guard gone, but I thought we did a great job of reacting to that.”

HAWKS 70, EAGLES 63 (OT)

Hermon (13-6) Ellsworth (14-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Cayford 0 2 6 6 6 Katsiaficas 2 5

Adams 1 2 2 3 4 C. DeWitt 4 12 4 5 15

Keith 5 16 5 6 15 J. DeWitt 4 13 3 3 12

McGown 4 7 0 1 8 Berry 0 1 0

Duplisea 10 20 5 7 27 Tracy 4 8 14

Shorey 2 5 2 2 6 Jones 1 4 3

Gould 1 5 2 2 4 Britt 2 4 4

Deabay 0 0 0 0 0 Conners 3 5 6

Danforth 0 0 0 0 0 Jordan 1 3 4

Harding 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 23 57 22 27 70 Totals 21 54 15 16 63

Hermon 11 22 39 48 70

Ellsworth 15 26 37 48 63

3-pt. goals ? Hermon (2-10): Duplisea 2-6, Cayford 0-1, Keith 0-1, Shorey 0-1, Gould 0-1; Ellsworth (6-19): C. Dewitt 3-8, Jones 1-3, J. DeWitt 1-4, Katsiaficas 1-1, Tracy 0-3

PONIES 59, WILDCATS 42

Presque Isle (11-9) Foxcroft (17-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Carlin 3 8 0 0 8 Robinson 3 8

Swanson 0 0 0 0 0 Withee 2 6 8

Belanger 0 1 0 0 0 Earnest 0 3 0

Greaves 0 0 0 0 0 Carey 3 13 8

Cray 0 0 0 0 0 Croan 0 0 0 0

Lavway 0 0 0 0 0 Gilbert 6 11 20

McGlinn 3 6 0 0 9 Perry 1 4 3

Rideout 6 12 0 0 12 Hall 4 12 12

Wildeman 1 4 0 0 2

Coffin 0 4 2 2 2

Whitaker 3 10 0 0 7

Fowler 0 1 2 3 2

Totals 16 46 4 5 42 Totals 19 57 15 22 59

Presque Isle 16 26 33 42

Foxcroft 22 36 46 59

3-pt. goals ? Presque Isle (6-18): McGlinn 3-5, Carlin 2-5, Whitaker 1-5, Coffin 0-3; Foxcroft (6-16): Withee 2-4, Robinson 2-5, Perry 1-1, Gilbert 1-3, Carey 0-1, Earnest 0-2