BANGOR, Maine — The top-seeded Woodland High School Dragons from Baileyville went 9:19 without a point in the first half of their Class D North quarterfinal game against eighth seed Bangor Christian at the Cross Insurance Center on Monday night..

It was 15-15 at the half.

But the second half was a different story as Woodland forced numerous turnovers, got its fast break going and attacked the basket en route to a hard-fought 53-45 boys basketball triumph.

Junior guard Drew Hayward had 10 of his team-high 16 points in the second half and senior center Justin Worden had 13 of his 15 as Woodland improved to 16-3 entering Thursday’s 8:35 p.m. semifinal against fifth seed Schenck High of East Millinocket (9-10).

Hayward and Worden were both in foul trouble in the first half.

Dynamic point guard Dean Grass scored a game-high 24 points for the 6-14 Patriots and eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career.

The Dragons used an 11-4 run in the third period to erase a five-point deficit and a 6-0 spurt in the fourth to build a 37-27 lead.

Bangor Christian couldn’t get any closer than six the rest of the way.

“It clicked in the second half,” Woodland coach Ben Maloney said. “We started pushing the ball and that enabled us to get easy layups.”

“When we got on the break, we’re able to get up and down the court because nobody can run with us. We’re so athletic,” Worden said.

“They pushed it down our throats a little bit in the second half,” Grass said. “We were struggling to get back on defense and they capitalized with layups and free throws.

“They’re a good number one seed,” said Grass, who was pleased to get his 1,000th point but added, “I just wish we could have won.”

Hayward also had three rebounds, three steals and two assists, and Worden had four rebounds and three steals. Sabre Lee Phelps and Plissey had eight points each, and Phelps also had five rebounds. Gavin Gardner contributed 12 rebounds, four points and two assists. Matthew Miller corralled four rebounds.

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