LEWISTON — In a rare tournament that has been nearly upset free, Edward Little’s Frankie Lally was the lone party crasher Tuesday during the second day of the three-day MPA singles tourney.

Not bad, for a day that almost wasn’t.

Lally, the No. 12 overall seed, gutted out a three-set marathon in one of the first matches of the day Tuesday, ousting No. 5 Jenna Selander of Caribou 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the Round of 16 to reach the state quarterfinals.

“After I won the first game, I was like, ‘OK, I can play with her,'” Lally said. “I kind of got off my guard a bit in the second set … I let her come back. She let me come back.”

Lally had thoughts Monday of, regardless of her finish, skipping the second day of the tourney for a senior class trip to Boston.

“It made that decision worthwhile, that’s for sure,” Lally said with a smile.

Instead, Lally, who took care of Oak Hill’s Sara LaCroix in straight sets Monday, stunned Selander with an opening-set victory. Then, leading 4-1 in the second set, though, Lally started to slip.

“(Selander) was down 1-4. What more did she have to lose,” Lally surmised. “She was also down a set, so she started wailing it. She started coming to net. I couldn’t find the right lob to get it over her head and I couldn’t hit the right passers they just went right to her.”

Selander won nine of the next 10 games, parlaying her set-winning momentum into a 3-0 lead in the third and final set, ostensibly on her way to a rematch with Analise Kump of Falmouth, the No. 4 seed.

But this time it was Lally who dug deep, winning six of the next seven games to oust Selander.

“I think she kind of did the same thing I did in the second set and just tensed up,” Lally said. “She didn’t come to net as much, so I tried to keep her moving.”

By the time Lally met Kump in the afternoon heat, the two-day grind appeared to catch up with her. After Lally took a 2-1 lead in the opening set, Kump rattled off 11 consecutive games to win 6-2, 6-0, earning a berth in the semifinal round.

“I think I just got tired,” Lally said. “I don’t feel tired, but my legs are tired, I think, having played an hour earlier. It was just so side-to-side; she just kept me moving.”

There, Kump will meet top-seeded Maria Varano of Kennebunk. Kump began her day Tuesday with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Lewiston High School’s Jessica Bowen.

“I wish I would have had another year of singles experience before this one, where it’s such a change going from doubles to singles,” Bowen said. “But I guess I have to take the positive out of it. She’s an amazing player. I learned a lot from the match and playing her, and I know i gave it everything I had and tried for every ball.”

Varano then downed Mea Clark of MDI, 6-1, 6-2, in the quarterfinal round.

Maisie Silverman of Brunswick, the No. 3 seed, and Annie Criscione of Falmouth, the No. 2 seed, will meet in the other semifinal, both of which will be played at Bates College on Saturday morning at 9:30.

Two Lewiston boys also began the day Tuesday with a chance at the title.

Eric Hall, seeded No. 7, breezed through his first match of the day against Eric Ordway of Waynflete, taking little more than an hour to post a 6-0, 6-0 win, earning a quarterfinal berth.

There, though, he ran into Bob Tom Flynn, the No. 2 seed, of John Bapst. Flynn, a hard-hitting power player who was a semifinalist last year, used his potent forehand to keep Hall back on his heels.

“I did my best out there,” Hall said. “He’s just a good player. He’s better than I am and he really deserved to win.”

Hall attempted to keep the ball to Flynn’s backhand, but to no avail. Flynn won the match 6-1, 6-1.

“All he does is hit his forehand,” Hall said. “When I finally got him pinned over there, I just couldn’t finish hitting it back side.”

Lewiston’s Scott Gagne, the No. 11 seed, fell in the Round of 16 to No. 6 Jordan Friedland of Lincoln Academy 6-1, 6-2. Friedland then fell in the quarterfinal round to Justin Brogan of Falmouth. Brogan and Flynn will meet in one semifinal Saturday. Top-seeded Patrick Ordway of Waynflete and No. 4 Matt Gilman of Cape Elizabeth will battle it out in Saturday’s other semifinal.

Team brackets finalized

The Maine Principals’ Association released the final Heal Point standings of the season Tuesday morning, and as expected, a handful of area teams have garnered top seeds.

The Lewiston boys lead Class A as the top seed in the East, while unbeaten Kennebunk is the top seed in Western Class A.

Maranacook finished its campaign at 9-3 and edged Lisbon for the No. 5 spot in Western Class B, drawing York in the opening round. The Greyhounds (8-4) will travel to Lincoln Academy for their first match.

In Western C, Winthrop completed its unbeaten season and will be the region’s top seed and will earn a first-round bye. Dirigo, at 11-1, is No. 2 and hosts Georges Valley in the opening round. At No. 4, St. Dom’s will host No. 5 Waynflete, while No. 6 Monmouth will travel to No. 3 Hall-Dale.

In the girls’ brackets, Lewiston will enter the tourney as the No. 2 seed behind Brunswick after the Dragons upended the Blue Devils twice during the regular season. Mt. Blue’s girls also qualified at No. 5, and will play a first-round match at No. 4 Cony.

In Western Class B, Oak Hill finished up at 10-2, earned the No. 2 seed and will host Morse in the first round. Mountain Valley snuck in to the tourney at No. 8 by fewer than two points, and will travel to powerhouse Falmouth in Round 1.

St. Dom’s is the area’s top seed in Western Class C at No. 3, and will host MVC rival Winthrop, the No. 6 seed, in the first round. Also, No. 4 Jay will host No. 5 Dirigo in the opening round.