Edward Little’s Piper Norcross goes for a basket while being pressured for behind by Portland’s Callie Watson during the Class AA North girls’ basketball semifinals in Portland at the Cross Insurance Arena on Wednesday. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

PORTLAND — Staying in the paint for too long isn’t allowed in basketball, but going to it early and often is a good way to make shots and win games.

No. 3 Edward Little made the paint its home, getting high-percentage shots seemingly at will to defeat No. 2 Portland, 58-38, in the Class AA North semifinals at Cross Insurance Arena on Wednesday. 

Edward Little advances to the regional final against top-seeded Oxford Hills at 2 p.m. Friday at Cross Insurance Arena.

Grace Fontaine led EL (13-7) with 16 points and five steals. Chantel Ouellette added 15 points and Hannah Chaput 12 points. Amanda Kabantu led Portland (13-7) with 15 points.

Edward Little shot 19-for-35 through the first three quarters and saw little reason to try its luck from long range, attempting just eight 3-pointers through the third period.

Fontaine had a good feeling about the Red Eddies’ marskmanship prior to the tip-off.

“In warmups, I noticed that we were shooting really well, so it was just finishing it off,” she said.

“They didn’t do anything we didn’t expect,” Portland coach Gerry Corcoran said. “They just executed extremely well.”

Edward Little found the paint to its liking from the start, attacking the basket with good ball movement and guard penetration. It started with a 12-0 run after Portland got on the scoreboard first. Fontaine’s layup made it 12-2 before the Bulldogs answered with the final six points of the quarter.

Helping the Red Eddies exploit the paint was the absence of Portland’s best player, sophomore guard/forward Gemima Motema, who had a team-high 16 points in the Bulldogs’ 57-42 win over EL on  Jan. 6 but broke her foot at the end of the regular season.

“Admittedly, them losing Motema makes a big difference,” Edward Little coach Chris Cifelli said. “She’s an excellent, excellent player. But we’d also seen their pressure, so we were a little bit more ready for that. They changed defenses on us a lot, too, so we wanted to make sure that we had a couple of plans for what (Corcoran) was going to throw at us.”

“We’ve pressed all year long, not that there’s anything complicated to our press, we don’t have Gemima anymore. She’s the crucial center-piece to that,” Corcoran said. “So we’ve kind of stepped out of the 2-1-2. We used to do that full court. In fact, the first time we played these guys, we did that, and won by 15. We tried to throw pressure, but they were prepared for it. They have a great set of guards.”

Portland cut the margin to 14-11 on a three-point play by Kabantu, but EL continued slicing through the middle of the Bulldogs’ defense. A layup by Jade Perry (six points, 11 rebounds, five assists) sparked an 11-4 EL run to end the half for a 27-17 lead.

Jumpers by Shayla Eubanks allowed Portland to cut the margin to nine on two occasions early in the third quarter. But the Bulldogs missed their next seven shots and the Red Eddies quickly resumed command with a 15-0 run, with all but two free throws coming in the lane.

EL limited Portland to 12-for-42 shooting through the first three quarters.

“Personally, I think we’re really good on defense when we talk,” Fontaine said. “If we talk a lot, we do so much better.” 

A drive by Ouellette kicked off the run. Piper Norcross (nine points) followed with a steal and layup, and made one of two subsequent free throws when Portland was whistled for an intentional foul on the play.

Ouellette added back-to-back drives to the hoop, and a pair of Chaput free throws capped it at 45-23 Eddies. They led 47-27 heading into the fourth.

“What we really tried to get back to in our time off was to get back to our fundamentals of what we want our offense to look like and what we need to do to be successful,” Cifelli said. “We wanted to really emphasize getting multiple cutters at times, try to find some openings, and get high-percentage shots. It’s so hard to shoot here, so we wanted to make sure we get high-percentage shots throughout the game. Especially with the teams that are left, because they all play defense so well.”

“This is way bigger than our court, so (shooting) was a little bit of an adjustment,” said Fontaine, who made both of EL’s 3-pointers. “But it’s way easier with layups than outside shots.”

Edward Little’s Piper Norcross goes for a layup as Portland’s Shayla Eubanks does in to play defense during the Class AA North girls’ basketball semifinals in Portland at the Cross Insurance Arena on Wednesday. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Edward Little’s Chantel Ouellette drives to the basket between Portland’s Shayla Eubanks and Grace Stacey during the Class AA North girls’ basketball semifinals in Portland at the Cross Insurance Arena on Wednesday. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Edward Little’s Grace Fontaine takes a shot at the basket while being pressured by Portland’s Reagan Brown during the Class AA North girls’ basketball semifinals in Portland at the Cross Insurance Arena on Wednesday. Portland’s Amanda Kabantu looks on at the play from the left.(Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Portland’s Kiera Eubanks gets the rebound during the Class AA North girls’ basketball semifinals in Portland at the Cross Insurance Arena on Wednesday. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Edward Little’s Hannah Chaput goes up for a layup between Portland’s Grace Stacey and Amanda Kabantu during the Class AA North girls’ basketball semifinals in Portland at the Cross Insurance Arena on Wednesday. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Edward Little’s Grace Beaudet drives past Portland’s Amanda Kabantu during the Class AA North girls’ basketball semifinals in Portland at the Cross Insurance Arena on Wednesday. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Portland’s Davina Kabantu plays defense against Edward Little’s Jade Perry during the Class AA North girls’ basketball semifinals in Portland at the Cross Insurance Arena on Wednesday. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Edward Little’s Chantel Ouellette pushes past Portland’s Amanda Kabantu during the Class AA North girls’ basketball semifinals in Portland at the Cross Insurance Arena on Wednesday. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Edward Little’s Hannah Chaput leaps past Portland’s Shayla Eubanks during the Class AA North girls’ basketball semifinals in Portland at the Cross Insurance Arena on Wednesday. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

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