BANGOR – The Central Aroostook boys basketball team had just one loss in the regular season, and it came late in the year against Katahdin.

So when the No. 2 Panthers of Mars Hill considered their matchup for Thursday afternoon’s Eastern Maine Class D semifinal, they didn’t have to stretch too far for scouting. Central Aroostook knew what was coming.

The Panthers fended off the Cougars’ perimeter attack with a fine outside game of their own, and fought through a variety of defenses to post a 74-60 victory over No. 3 Katahdin of Stacyville at the Bangor Auditorium.

Central Aroostook will now take a 20-1 record into Saturday’s regional final against No. 1 Calvary Chapel of Orrington, which won the second semifinal Thursday afternoon.

Katahdin wrapped up its season with a 17-4 mark.

The Panthers had four players in double figures and got 20 points apiece from Bryan Grew and Andrew York. That’s what happens when a team shoots as well as Central Aroostook did: 23-for-55 from the floor, including 10-for-16 from 3-point range, and 18-for-24 from the free-throw line.

Both teams actually tied the tourney record for most 3-pointers in a game (10) but Katahdin hit one late to break the mark. Calvary Chapel broke it again in the second game.

The Cougars played a variety of zones through the game and went to a 2-2-1 half-court trap at one point, which was effective against the Panthers in the regular season.

“We expected it to come,” said Grew, who added nine rebounds. “We practiced all week for it. We were ready for it.”

Katahdin had a six-point lead early in the second quarter but York and Jason Woodworth (12 points, 11 rebounds) hit 3-pointers during an 8-0 run to get the Panthers back into it and a 7-0 run later in the period to take the lead.

The Cougars wouldn’t go away in the third quarter, and Brian Sullivan drained a 3-pointer to tie it with 2:02 left in the period. CAHS responded with a short run capped by a Grew 3-pointer.

“I think they wore us down in the fourth quarter,” Katahdin coach Bill McAvoy said. “We played six guys most of the game, five played an awful lot. I thought that would be what would kill us at the end.”

York scored 10 points in the fourth and Tim Carlson had six of his 11 in the quarter to help the Panthers pull away.

The Cougars had six turnovers in the fourth quarter.

“We wanted to be a little more patient on the offensive end and we weren’t at times,” McAvoy said.

Jordan Davis paced Katahdin with 12 points. Owen McCarthy added 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, and Patrick Willett put in 11 points.

PANTHERS 74, COUGARS 60

Katahdin (17-4) Central Aroostook (20-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Grass 2 4 0 0 6 Martinez 0 0

Willett 4 8 0 0 11 J. Clockdle 0 0

O. Qualey 0 0 0 0 0 McLaughlin 2 10 0 0 4

Cyr 1 6 0 0 3 York 7 11 2 20

J. Qualey 1 2 0 0 2 Clockdle 0 0

Davis 7 10 0 0 14 Grew 6 14 20

Sullivan 3 15 1 2 9 Carlson 3 9 11

McAvoy 0 1 0 0 0 Woodworth 3 12

K. Anderson 1 1 0 0 3 Hallet 0 0 0

Gould 0 0 0 0 0 Walsh 2 2 6

Harris 0 0 0 0 0 Crew 0 1 1

McCarthy 5 11 0 0 12 McCartney 0 0

Rush 0 0 0 0 0 Larrabee 0 0 0

Totals 24 58 1 2 60 23 55 18 24 74

Katahdin 20 30 46 60

Central Aroostook 16 35 50 74

3-pt. goals ? Katahdin (11-21): Willett 3-4, Grass 2-4, Sullivan 2-4, McCarthy 2-3, K. Anderson 1-1, Cyr 1-5; Central Aroostook (10-16): York 4-5, Grew 3-4, Woodworth 2-4, Carlson 1-3