AUGUSTA — Dirigo had trailed Madison big once this season, so there was no sense of panic among the Cougars when they fell into a quick 7-0 hole in Thursday’s Western Class C girls’ semifinal.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, top-seeded Madison had a long memory, too. And the Bulldogs had a plan to keep them from rallying.

Madison held No. 5 Dirigo without a field goal in the fourth quarter and pulled away for a 40-24 victory at the Augusta Civic Center.

Morse will battle Waynflete for the regional title at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Allie Russell scored a game-high 14 points and five rebounds and Jennifer Brown scored 10 points to lead the Shipbuilders (16-4), but it was the way the Bulldogs shut down Dirigo’s leading scorers that made the difference.

“I thought our defense was the key,” Madison coach Al Veneziano said. “Lyndsay Weese on Hannah Knight, we had to stop her. She’s kind of the key to what happens with them. Everybody helped with her. And Bianca (Stoutamyer) did a very good job on (Jane) Hebert, not giving her easy shots. it was a total defensive effort by the whole team.”

Knight led the Cougars (14-6) with six points. Hebert finished with four points and five  rebounds. Tricia Turner added five points.

Dirigo hurt its own cause with turnovers early and poor free throw shooting late (8-for-21). The Cougars battled back to within five points three different times in the third quarter but could never make it a one-possession game.

“Coach Al is a very good coach and they’re a very disciplined team,” Dirigo coach Reggie Weston said. “I thought we had them on the ropes when we started pressing them, but it took a lot of energy out of us doing that, too.”

Brown took the wind out of the Cougars’ sails early on with some torrid shooting. The junior guard scored eight of her points in the first 11 minutes as the Bulldogs began the game with a 7-0 run and eventually took an 11-4 lead.

“That was a big key for us also, have her get off to that start,” Veneziano said. “She’s very capable of that and she’s been doing it for us this season.”

“We were pressing at the time, so we had to get into  a zone or we had to jump and rotate — she got open and what a great job by her,” Weston said. “All she needed to do was get open and put the ball in the hole and she didn’t miss. We normally can stick the ball when we get open. We just couldn’t do it tonight.”

Six first period turnovers exacerbated the problem. Dirigo didn’t get on the board until Morgan Hutchins scored with under two minutes left in the first quarter.  Yet, the Cougars were able to close within 15-11 on a Hebert runner and two Knight free throws with two minutes to go in the half.

The two teams split during the regular season, each winning on the other’s court. The Cougars lost in overtime in a game in which they trailed by 13 early, so Madison needed little encouragement to keep them down.

“Dirigo’s a very capable team, and you can’t allow them to have breaks,” Veneziano said.

Russell scored three straight to close the half, then the Bulldogs went up nine midway through the third on an Andrea Smith bucket. The Cougars cut it to five for the last time a few moments later on a Knight hoop, but a jumper by Russell and a Kirsta Grant hoop quickly drove the lead back up to nine again.

Stoutamyer sent the lead into double digits  for the first time and for good at 34-23 as the worn out Cougars missed all nine of their shots from the field.