Mollie Gray scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and sister Olivia Gray added seven points and four assists as No. 3 Mount Desert Island ousted Hancock County rival No. 6 Ellsworth 46-28 in their Class B North quarterfinal at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor Friday.

Elena Alderman had six points, two rebounds and two steals for the 16-4 winners, who won both regular season games against Ellsworth.

Ellsworth’s Lily Bean (#21) and MDI’s Mollie Gray (#35) go up for a rebound in first half action of the girls Class B North quarterfinal game Friday at the Cross Insurance Center. Credit: Linda Coan O'Kresik / BDN
Ellsworth’s Addison Atherton goes up for a shot in second half action of their girls Class B North quarterfinal game against MDI Friday at the Cross Insurance Center. Credit: Linda Coan O'Kresik / BDN

Morgan Clifford’s nine points, four rebounds and two steals, Abby Radel’s seven points and five rebounds, and Grace Jaffray’s six points and eight rebounds led Ellsworth, which wound up 12-8.

MDI scored the game’s first eight points and never trailed.

The Trojans led by as much as 10 in the first half but Ellsworth closed it to within three points on three different occasions in the first half thanks to a pair of Clifford threes and one by Addison Atherton.

But the Trojans closed out the half with a 5-2 run to take a 24-18 lead into the intermission.

Grace Witham converted an Olivia Gray pass with an 8-foot baseline jumper to open the second half and Mollie Gray sank a pair of free throws to expand the lead to 28-18.

MDI led 32-23 after three and outscored Ellsworth 14-5 in the fourth quarter to pull away.

Olivia Gray fed sister Mollie for a basket and Mollie Gray sank two free throws to offset a Jocelyn Jordan basket and make it 36-25 early in the fourth quarter.

Nadel hit a three but Olivia Gray made a nifty pass to Leah Carroll for a back-door layup and Alderman hit an open three off a Mollie Gray pass to make it 41-28 and all but sew up the victory.

MDI celebrates their 46-28 victory over Ellsworth in the girls Class B North quarterfinal game Friday at the Cross Insurance Center. Credit: Linda Coan O'Kresik / BDN

“Defense won it for us,” said MDI coach Brent Barker. “We made sure we contested their [outside] shooters in the second half. We went back to our 2-3 zone.”

“We knew we had to step out on their shooters, especially Morgan [Clifford] and Grace [Jaffray] on the wings,” said Olivia Gray. “We also looked to get the best shot we could. We played pretty well. We played much better in the second half than we did in the first half.”

MDI was much more experienced, starting four seniors and a sophomore while Ellsworth started a senior, a junior, a sophomore and two freshmen.

MDI teammates and fans cheer for a 3-pointer by Olivia Gray in first half action of the girls Class B North quarterfinal game Friday at the Cross Insurance Center. Credit: Linda Coan O'Kresik / BDN

“They have a veteran team,” said Ellsworth coach Andy Pooler. “They made some good adjustments. They made some big shots and got some big stops. And they wore us down in the second half.”

Mollie Gray had nine points and seven rebounds in the first half and Olivia Gray had seven points and three rebounds.

MDI advances to a Wednesday semifinal at the Cross Insurance Center against the winner of Friday’s second game between No. 2 Hermon and No. 10 Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated MDI’s overall record. It is 16-4.