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AUGUSTA — It was almost the comeback of the Maine high school basketball postseason.

But with some timely defense and the offensive play of Gage Mattson and Jack Fontaine, the Maranacook boys basketball team was able to hold off Hall-Dale, 73-65, in a Class C South semifinal Thursday night at the Augusta Civic Center.

Third-seeded Maranacook (16-4) moves on to play No. 1 Spruce Mountain at 8 p.m. Saturday in Augusta. The Phoenix (18-2) beat Mount View 62-48 in the other semifinal.

Mattson, a freshman forward, scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Fontaine, a junior guard, added 26 points.

“We’re excited for sure,” Maranacook coach Travis Magnusson said. “This was great for us, our fans brought it, our student section (was great). It was a huge crowd. Our guys had a ton of energy. I’m really happy, but now we’ve got to go out and win one more, see if we can get to states.”

Junior guard Davis Madore scored 18 points for No. 2 Hall-Dale (15-5), while junior forward Karter Eldridge scored 14 points.

Down 60-41 entering the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs fought back and pulled within a single possession. Hall-Dale knocked down seven 3-pointers in the final eight minutes, three from Madore, who scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth.

“Lots of teams go away and put their head in the sand (in that moment),” Hall-Dale coach Chris Ranslow said. “We continued to battle, one possession at a time, get a stop and get a score. We cut it all the way back.

“It’s nice to see the team respond like that. It’s nice to see the fight inside them. They showed a lot of character and a lot of heart. That’s how I’m going to remember this team.”

Even during the comeback, Maranacook held firm on its defense in the post, holding Hall-Dale forward Tayshaun Cleveland to three points. Eldridge was scoreless in the fourth quarter.

“At practice yesterday, that was the goal (entering the game), stop (Cleveland) and stop Eldridge, hold them to less points, we’re going to win the game,” Mattson said.

Added Magnusson: “You’ve just got to settle in (in that moment). It’s a long game, (Hall-Dale) is a great team, it’s going to happen. I thought we had a couple of good timeouts when we figured them out and got them to calm down, and we made some big plays.”

Mattson took the over in the fourth, especially after Fontaine fouled out with 2:12 remaining. Mattson scored eight points in the fourth, including four free throws that helped cement the win.

“We were just trying to stay positive (on the bench),” Mattson said. “If you get negative on each other, that’s when things can go downhill. If you stay positive, you get right back in it.”

Austin Ferry added 12 points for Hall-Dale, all on 3-pointers.