Messalonskee’s Parker Reynolds takes a shot over Nokomis’ Dawson Townsend in the Class A North boys basketball quarterfinal game Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

AUGUSTA — Early foul trouble turned Messalonskee’s Class A North boys basketball quarterfinal against Nokomis into an unexpectedly tight game Saturday night at the Augusta Civic Center.

For the top-seeded Eagles, it was all about weathering the storm — which they did before pulling away in the fourth quarter to secure a 55-39 victory. The win sends Messalonskee (17-2) to Wednesday’s semifinal round against No. 5 Camden Hills (10-9).

“At the Civic Center, they’re going to call it tighter, so you’ve got to play with your hands back and fight through it sometimes,” said Messalonskee senior Drake Brunelle. “We fought through it — the guys came on the bench came through for us — and we rallied.”

How Messalonskee did it

• The Eagles never trailed, even as starters Michael Achorn, Ryan Parent and Parker Reynolds all dealt with foul trouble.

• With the game still tight in the fourth quarter, Drake Brunelle hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Messalonskee (17-2) up 36-29. Ty Bernier then completed a three-point play with 3:34 to go, giving the Eagles a double-digit lead for good.

• Brunelle scored 11 of Messalonskee’s 25 points in the fourth. Sean Achorn added six, Ty Bernier had five, and Ryan Parent hit a 3-pointer that put the Eagles up 16 with 2:08 to play.

“We finally put the ball in the basket after it felt like we couldn’t put it in all night,” said Messalonskee coach Sam Smith. “We kept being aggressive, and we kept trying to attack, and I was proud of our guys for continuing to do that.”

What it means

• Messalonskee, which lost a tight showdown against Hampden Academy in last year’s regional title game, is one game closer to returning to the stage where their championship dreams ended in heartbreak a year ago.

• Nokomis’ season ends at 5-14. The Warriors had their moments but could not withstand Messalonskee’s late offensive onslaught.

They said it

“They had been sagging off me the whole game, and I’d wanted to shoot the first ones every time. We’d kinda been in a slump, so I held off in the first half, but (in the fourth quarter) I saw the shots, I took them, and they fell for me.” — Drake Brunelle

“I think there are some first-game jitters, but I also think this court and this environment take a second to get used to. For us, we’ve also been off for two weeks, so that plays a role, and when you have to get used to it, that’s where upsets can happen. For us, our defense was able to carry us.” — Sam Smith

“They’re the 1 seed for a reason, but our guys played tough, they battled, and they hung in there for a long time. We missed some shots around the rim that have to go in for that to be a really close game at the end, but I was really proud of our effort.” — Nokomis coach Josh Grant.

Stat leaders

• Nokomis: Dawson Townsend (12 points), Owen Sides (10 points), Seth Bowden (10 rebounds)

• Messalonskee: Drake Brunelle (14 points), Ty Bernier (13 points, six rebounds), Sean Achorn (12 points)