AUGUSTA — Size versus quickness. Funny, Dirigo’s been on the smallish end of that age-old athletic contrast before, and it turned out just fine.

Like its football team that won a state championship three months ago, the reigning kings of Western Class C boys’ basketball used speed and finesse to overcome power and brawn Thursday night.

No. 2 Dirigo rallied from seven points down, took the lead for keeps early in the fourth quarter and carved out a chippy 46-37 semifinal victory over No. 3 Old Orchard Beach at Augusta Civic Center.

Nic Crutchfield scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half for Dirigo. His uncontested 3-pointer put the Cougars (17-3) on top to stay with just over six minutes left.

Dirigo advanced to its fourth consecutive regional title game.

“That’s the toughest game including football we’ve had all year,” said Crutchfield, a three-year starter in both sports. “They were big. They had size and we didn’t. They were going over the top, and it was hard to defend that.”

OOB (17-3) also employed a 2-3 zone that stood in stark contrast to the straight-up sensibilities of the Mountain Valley Conference and gave Dirigo fits.

But the Cougars softened that configuration by raining down eight 3-pointers, two shy of the 20-year-old tourney record. Newly christened Mr. Basketball semifinalist Tyler Chiasson canned four of those and concluded with a game-high 18 points.

“We’d get the ball in the middle and there were three guys right there, and they’re all huge,” Chiasson said. “There were hands everywhere. But we took the lead, and then we finally were shutting down their big men. We had a lot of steals and got a lot over the top with those steals.”

John Regis led the Seagulls with 12 points before fouling out with back-to-back personal and technical fouls in the final minute. Dean Perrone added seven points. Brandon Ouellette supplemented six points with six rebounds and four steals.

Dirigo forced 14 of OOB’s 23 turnovers in the second half and held the Seagulls to only five field goal attempts in the third quarter, erasing a modest 22-21 halftime deficit.

“We knew it would break at some point,” Crutchfield said. “We’d get some shots in. We kept going and they started breaking down. Our team chemistry was good, and they started bickering.”

OOB exploded to a 10-3 lead on the strength of a 3-point play by Ryan Gallant and a 3-pointer from Corey Mahoney, who drained five treys in a quarterfinal rout of Boothbay. It was his only bomb of the night.

The Cougars countered with a 11-2 run to their first lead. Spencer Ross, Chiasson and Tyler Gates all connected from beyond the arc.

Six straight inside points from 6-foot-6 reserve Nate Dow and 6-1 slasher Perrone restored the ’Gulls momentum, however, as they took flight to the narrow lead at intermission.

“We got off to a good start. We played well. We accomplished what we wanted to,” said OOB coach John Regan. “We thought we could come out here and play a little zone, and maybe they’re not accustomed to seeing a lot of that through the year. It worked, and going into the fourth quarter we were in the game.”

Three of Crutchfield’s second-half baskets either knotted the game or gave Dirigo the lead.

His put-back piggybacked Chiasson’s 3-pointer to make it 26-24. Eric Bolduc’s pass led Crutchfield on a perfect backdoor cut to pull the Cougars even at 28.

Then came his 3-pointer in response to Regis’ tying, second-chance hoop.

“I didn’t think I was going to hit it,” Crutchfield said. “I take like one every seven games.”

OOB never again nudged closer than three and was held scoreless for the final four minutes.

And despite some Dirigo difficulties from the line, Ross, Chiasson and Kyle Hutchinson combined for five freebies in the final 48 seconds.

“You’ve got to win games that way,” said Dirigo coach Dave Gerrish. “We hit a couple of shots, got a couple of turnovers, and it changed the game a little bit, or just enough in our favor.”

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