BANGOR — Her team took the lead in the first quarter and held it the entire way, but Nokomis coach Kori Dionne still felt the Warriors got away with a subpar performance.

Nokomis, which had beaten Medomak by 33 points in mid-January, got a much closer battle Saturday morning. The Panthers stayed close throughout, but Nokomis held on for a 58-51 victory in an Eastern B girls basketball quarterfinal game.

Additional Photos

ALL RIGHT: Nokomis’ teammates Kelsie Richards,left, and Lindsay Whitney, center, celebrate after defeating Medomak Valley 58-51 in the Eastern Class B quarterfinals game Saturday at the Bangor Auditorium. Staff photo by Michael G. Seamans

“It was ugly,” Dionne said. “That was probably one of our worst games by far this season. I’m not sure the reasoning behind it, but an ugly win is better than a pretty loss, so we’ll take it.”

Second-seeded Nokomis remains unbeaten at 19-0 and moves on to play No. 6 Old Town in a semifinal at 7 p.m., Wednesday. No. 7 Medomak finishes 13-7.

“The first time we played them, they really pushed us around,” Medomak Valley coach Randy Hooper said. “It really wasn’t pretty, to be honest with you. It was like women with schoolgirls.

“We just said, ‘Enough is enough. We’re not going to be pushed around.’ And I think you saw that today.”

Medomak Valley stayed in the game behind senior guard Alanna Vose, who had 16 of her game-high 24 points in the second half. Nokomis was led by Anna Mackenzie (14 points, nine rebounds) and Marissa Shaw (14 points, six rebounds), both of whom frequently followed up missed shots with weakside offensive rebounds for layups. Overall, Nokomis outrebounded the Panthers, 31-22.

Kelsie Richards (12 points) and Emilee Reynolds (eight) were also hitting in the first quarter for Nokomis, and the Warriors led 20-10 after one quarter. They extended that to 28-13, but Medomak Valley crawled back into the game at the free-throw line, and when Vose banked in a 3-pointer in the final seconds, Nokomis led 30-23 at the half.

Medomak Valley got as close as 34-32 with 6:01 to play in the third quarter after a three-point play by Vose. But Kelsie Richards came back down with a 3-pointer, and her twin sister, Kylie Richards, stole the ball and made a layup to put the Warriors back up by seven.

Although Mallory Robbins had nine points and Hannah Marks and Mallory Conary each had eight for Medomak Valley, the Panthers didn’t have any consistent scoring options besides Vose. That point was hammered home when Vose had to sit out for nearly 2 1/2 minutes in the fourth quarter after banging her elbow. During that time, Nokomis extended its lead from 46-38 to 52-38.

Vose came back in with 5:11 left in the game and scored nine more points, but Nokomis played tight defense on her down the stretch, and Medomak Valley ran out of time.

“It’s a cliche to say, but those girls that I just had left everything out on the floor,” Hooper said. “I’ve never really used that saying in my 25 years, but they really did. That was everything they had, and Nokomis was just a little bit better.”

While Dionne said the Warriors didn’t play up to their capability, she said she wasn’t overly concerned about them getting on track by Wednesday.

“It’s better to have a game like that now, this early, so we can go back, look at the film, take a couple days in practice and get our heads back on straight,” Dionne said. “I’m confident that we’ll get ourselves put back together here.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

mdifilippo@mainetoday.com

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