PORTLAND — Top-seeded Cheverus continued its undefeated run, and proved its postseason position in Wednesday’s final period.

Led by senior Maddie Fitzpatrick, the Stags defeated fourth-seeded Lewiston 57-35 in a Class AA North girls basketball semifinal at Cross Insurance Arena.

The Blue Devils (10-10) kept the first three quarters tight, trailing by seven points at the end of the first, five points to close out the second and eight points heading into the fourth quarter. Lewiston coach Josh Morin said he was proud of the team for coming out with high energy to battle the Stags (19-0).

“We’ve played them tough in the first half, both other times this year we played them, so that was kind of nothing new,” Morin said. “You never know on a floor like this, who’s going to be shooting well and who isn’t. I think we were able to play more of the style we wanted to play because they weren’t hitting shots, but that kind of changed late in the game.”

Megan Dearborn was the second highest scorer for the Stags, behind Fitzpatrick’s 20 points, adding 12 — all from 3-pointers. Dearborn hit back-to-back treys with 6:56 remaining in the third, putting the Stags nine points ahead of the Blue Devils. She also tallied a pair of 3-pointers in the last 30 seconds of the first quarter.

“We just worked on a lot of repetition. Obviously the bye-week (in the quarterfinal round) was really helpful for us, since we had extra practices to work on form shooting and all of that,” Dearborn said. “Coach (Billy Goodman) has always said, like, we all know our goals; my goal was just to shoot and to continue shooting, and when they’re not falling, find somewhere else in the court to shoot.”

Lewiston senior Natalie Beaudoin had no problems finding the right place to shoot in the first half, tallying five points in the first quarter and eight points in the second. She finished with a team-high-tying 13 after being held scoreless in the second half.

“Natalie played well. We were working on how we were going to attack their halfcourt pressure for the last few days, and I thought she did well executing that,” Morin said. “She made some shots that were big.”

Near the end of the first half, Beaudoin helped tighten the gap, bringing it to the tightest score since the opening minutes, 20-17, with Cheverus still leading. Her back-to-back baskets were an answer to a bucket by Cheverus’s Rachel LaSalle and gave the Blue Devils a better chance to battle through the second half.

For Dearborn, she said it’s been incredible to be a part of this historic season for the Stags, going both undefeated and advancing to the regional final as a senior.

“Me and Maddie (Fitzpatrick) have talked a lot about how grateful we are for this team and just how incredible the progress (is),” Dearborn said. “All the coaches have talked about how this is a real gift to have, so it’s just putting everything on the court and almost making it worthy of everything that we’ve been given.”

The biggest personal achievement for Dearborn has been becoming a well-rounded player by improving her passing and defensive skills, diversifying her ability on the court beyond being just a shooter. Fitzpatrick said these are also things the entire team has worked to improve, and that’s only continued to show on the court.

“This year is just different because of the chemistry we have with each other,” Fitzpatrick said. “I mean, the love, the friendship, the just the community we have, it really makes a difference, and I think it’s shown on the court.”

Not only have the upperclassmen developed on-court chemistry and rhythm with one another, but so have the younger players, Goodman said. Despite the early butterflies the younger players had in Wednesday’s game, Goodman said he was proud of the team for pulling the win out.

“We found a style to play with. We play full court pressure every two minutes,” Goodman said. “We have a deeper bench, meaning we keep that level. The team likes to play fast, so we tried to do that.”

He also said going into Wednesday’s semifinal game that he knew Lewiston shoots well under pressure, and said they are a “very good team” who would perform well, even with the intensity that comes with playoffs. Knowing that, Goodman said it was a matter of going back to the basics for the Stags, ensuring they could handle the ball and get rebounds.

Morin said the Blue Devils’ five graduating seniors will be a tough loss for the program, and hard to replace.

“My daughter, Koral, I mean, she’s been fantastic all year,” Morin said. “A true point guard, that’s going to be tough to replace. Natalie, you know, a kid that size that can shoot, and same thing with Ellie (Legare), that kid just lights it up.

“Skylar (Gaudette), she’s that everything character kid, she does what I asked her to do and doesn’t need to take a ton of shots, just kind of whatever needs to be done for the team. Gabby (Roman), coming off the bench, has been great in these last couple of games and given us some toughness.”

Legare equaled Beaudoin with 13 points. Morin scored five and Ella Beaudoin and Bailey Tardif-Mockler each added two.

Josh Morin said the team’s goal all season was to make it far in the playoffs, especially for the senior class. He also said this team was better than seasons past, and the mantra was to “right the ship,” which he said they did.

Goodman said the five seniors at Cheverus have all contributed in their own way and helped lead the team through a perfect record.

“Maddie has been special for us, just does it all for us,” Goodman said. “Ruth Boles is amazing, doing a lot of things for us: scoring, rebounding and passing. Megan Dearborn has been shooting great and playing tough defense. Abby Marshall and Olivia Conroy go out there and do a job for us. They don’t get a lot of notoriety, but when they go on the floor, they do something for us.”

Cheverus will face second-seeded Oxford Hills in the Class AA North final game on Saturday, at 2 p.m. at Cross Insurance Arena. It will be a rematch of last year’s regional final.

“We have a lot of respect for Oxford,” Goodman said. “They sent us home last year and they got some veterans out there and they’re a tough team. They’re on a roll, so we’re going to have to play our best game.”

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