By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

PORTLAND – The York Wildcats may have a trip to the optometrist to thank for preventing an upset in the Western Class B girls’ quarterfinals.

Morgan Taylor, plagued by vision problems early in the year, had everything in focus Saturday. The junior came off the bench to score 18 points and lead the second-seeded Wildcats to a 52-42 win over No. 7 Mountain Valley.

The Wildcats will face meet sixth-seed Gray-New Gloucester in the semifinals.

“Taylor came to play. She did this more last year than she has this year,” York coach Rick Clark said. “She couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn in the the first half of the season. She was one of our best shooters last season, so I couldn’t figure it out. Then she went to the doctors. She couldn’t see. She got the contacts and she started getting a little more confidence every game.”

Taylor bailed the Wildcats (16-3) out of a rough first half, then helped them pull away down the stretch.

“Their bench production in the first half kept them in it and won it for them in the end,” said Falcons coach Wade McLaughlin.

Kristen Arsenault posted a game-high 21 points for the Falcons (9-11), but York was content to let the senior guard get what she wanted in the paint. Freshman Vanessa Cayer (seven points off the bench) and sophomore Tanya Martin (five points) provided solid support in the first half, but were shut out in the second half.

“They switched up to that halfcourt trap. We knew that they had it, and it’s similar to Dirigo’s,” said McLaughlin, who is stepping down as Falcons coach. “We didn’t handle it well against Dirigo the first time we saw it, and we didn’t handle this one.”

The Falcons effectively attacked the basket before York unveiled the trap in the second quarter. They scored 10 unanswered points to close the first quarter, and on the strength of some good free throw shooting (14-for-18 in the first half), built a 19-9 lead early in the second quarter. York held them without a field goal for the entire quarter, however, and chipped away at the deficit. With Taylor tallying seven of its nine points in the period, York trailed by three at the half.

Maura Roche’s 3-pointer sparked a 7-0 York run to start the third quarter as the Wildcats took the lead to stay. Mountain Valley continued to be ice cold from the field, going without a field goal for a little more than 13 minutes until Arsenault scored on a drive and completed a three-point play that made it a one-point game midway through the third.

The Falcons never got that close again. Abbigail Boone (12 points, five assists, four steals) answered Arsenault’s three-point play with a 3-point shot, and Taylor added a bucket.

to make it a six-point game. Arsenault pulled the the Falcons within three with a jumper to start the fourth quarter, but Taylor scored seven points in an 8-0 York run midway through the period to give York all the breathing room it needed.