It can be difficult to beat a team three times in a season, especially a rival.
But the third-seeded Ellsworth High School Eagles took care of business courtesy of a barrage of 3-pointers as they pulled away in the second half for a 68-33 victory in their Class B North quarterfinal at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on Friday.
Ellsworth, now 16-3, hit 11 3-pointers to tie the Class B North record set by Presque Isle in 2014.
Abby Radel’s 19 points, Morgan Clifford’s 12 and Grace Jaffray’s 11 points paced Ellsworth.
Lily Bean added seven points and seven rebounds.
Jaffray grabbed 12 rebounds and Clifford had five.
Lexi Tozier’s 12 points and seven rebounds and Mollie Gray’s seven points and two assists led MDI, which finished 10-9, including three losses to Ellsworth.
Radel had 18 of her points in the second half.
“I was forcing it in the first half,” said Radel. “In the second half, I just let my teammates get the ball to me and I got open shots.”
The 5-foot-2 Radel, a sophomore — as is Jaffray — said it was nice to beat the Trojans three times since MDI beat them three times a year ago.
Presque Isle set the 3-point record against Ellsworth coach Andy Pooler’s second Ellsworth team.
“We buckled down on defense in the second half and we were able to force turnovers and get some easy transition baskets off them,” Pooler said. “We were able to change the pace of the game.”
They went from man-to-man to zone in the second half.
The Eagles took a 27-16 lead into the intermission. They led by as many as 14 in the first half.
Jaffray had nine points over the first 16 minutes while Clifford and Elizabeth Boles each nailed a pair of 3-pointers.
Jaffray also grabbed six rebounds.
Gray’s six points, Tozier’s five and Aleksandra Hanley’s four paced the Trojans.
Tozier also had six rebounds.