PORTLAND — The theme for the Medomak Valley girls basketball team this season: they like to make things challenging for themselves.

It continued for the second-seeded Panthers in the Class B South quarterfinals, where the seventh-seed Leavitt stayed close into the fourth quarter before Medomak Valley pulled away for a 39-24 victory.

“That’s our favorite thing to do, is to make things as difficult as we can, it seems,” Medomak Valley coach Lindsay Vinal said.

The Panthers (14-5) will face second-seeded Oceanside in the regional semifinals at 1 p.m., Tuesday.

Chloe Fox said the Panthers let the Hornets (13-7) get the ball too many times.

“I mean, when, like, we’re not boxing out or rebounding or, like, no one kind of, everyone’s just watching the ball and it can get frustrating,” Fox said. “When we’re not working together, some of us lose our heads and just we fall apart as a team. So we need to keep our composure and stay together.”

Leavitt’s defense did its job.

• Leavitt coach Kyle Rines had no complaints about the Hornets’ defensive efforts. They kept the Panthers under 40 points, which was the goal.

“I think it comes down to willingness and energy and effort on the defensive end,” Rines said. “We tried to show them different looks and keep them out of a rhythm, and eventually that fourth quarter got away from us just due to them hitting some free throws and us continuing to not get a basket.”

• The Hornets had no players score in double digits. Gabrielle Smith led the Hornets with nine points.

How did Medomak Valley win?

•The Panthers took a 26-20 lead into the fourth quarter and went on a 9-1 run, including four points from Fox in that stretch. She had six of her 13 points in the quarter.

“I think we realized we played Leavitt in the regular season, and we beat them by 17,” Fox said. “And I think we realize that we’re a better team than them. We’re able to come out and we can take it over.”

• Kytana Williamson had five of her 10 points in the final quarter.

They said it

• “Yes, for sure, that was our goal, is to keep them under 40. We just had to be able to score and we had a hard time with that today with our first time at the Expo. We shot a little bit nervous. So, that’s my only regret, is that we didn’t play as fluid. I mean, Caitlin McCoy only had four points, and her average is 16. If she is anywhere near that, it’s much closer.” — Rines

• “I think we can definitely come out and beat (Oceanside). I mean, we almost did at their place. And I think as long as we come out and stay composed and work together as a team, run our plays correctly, have good defense, we should be doing it. And we close out their shooters. I think we can do it.” — Fox