BANGOR – Sometimes, it’s a good thing to have a little bit of luck on your side.

The Schenck boys basketball team had some good fortune Tuesday morning, and the third-ranked Wolverines of East Millinocket used it to oust upset-minded 11th-ranked George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill 57-56 in an Eastern Maine Class C quarterfinal at the Bangor Auditorium.

The Wolverines will face Lee Academy in a 2:05 p.m. semifinal Friday. The No. 2 Pandas cruised past No. 7 Fort Kent 69-36 in the morning’s second quarterfinal.

“We fought back, we fought hard, we hit a couple shots to get us over the top,” said Schenck coach Steve LeVasseur, whose club improved to 16-3.

“We were lucky to win the game. We are lucky to come back on Friday,” LeVasseur added.

Guard Mike Lowell, who finished with 16 points, concurred.

“Honestly, we were lucky to pull it off because we played as bad as we could possibly play and they played a good game,” said Lowell. “We made a lot of stupid mistakes, but we won’t do it next game.”

The resilient Wolverines trailed by as many as six in the second half, but a valiant fourth-quarter rally capped by Lanny Thompson’s one-handed runner in the lane gave the them a 55-54 lead with 41.7 seconds to play.

After a fadeaway jumper on the low block by Nick Saunders on GSA’s next possession gave it a one-point edge, Lowell was fouled on a drive to the hoop with 11.4 seconds to play.

The senior guard calmly sank both free throws, putting Schenck back up by a point.

The Eagles had two more chances to win it, but Ebb Walton’s 3-point attempt clanked off and Rashad Frazier’s tip-in attempt just before time expired fell short, and the Wolverines exhaled a huge sigh of relief.

GSA’s inside game, coupled with uncharacteristic Schenck turnovers, put the Wolverines in an eight-point hole in the final two minutes of the first half.

Two free throws and a 3-pointer by Thompson, coupled with Ethan McLaughlin’s layup trimmed the deficit to three by intermission.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair, with the largest lead being a six-point Eagles edge going into the fourth quarter.

The Wolverines were able to step up and hit their shots down the stretch, in particular Lowell, who scored nine fourth-quarter points, including his only free-throw attempts of the game.

“That’s the only thing they had me working on the last couple weeks, 200 free throws a day,” said Lowell, who credited the work of assistant head coach Sterling Thompson.

Thompson led Schenck with 17 points, while Saunders had a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles.

In the second game, the Pandas came out a tad slow, leading only 15-12 after one, but they settled into a rhythm from there and outscored the Warriors 54-24 over the final three periods.

“The first quarter we had some jitters. Once we got into the second quarter, we got a bit more relaxed,” said coach Randy Harris, whose Pandas are now 14-5 while Fort Kent finished up 11-9.

The Warriors simply could not match up with the Lee’s height and were worn out by its transition game and pressure defense, which forced 13 turnovers.

“That’s been our MO all year long, run up and down the floor and make it an 84-foot game,” said Harris.

Hakeem Rodriguez came off the bench to lead all scorers with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting for Lee, while Luis Medina was a force on the glass with eight rebounds to go with his 14 points.

Devan Parker also hit double figures with 12 points for Lee, which led 34-16 at the break. Tyler Doty hauled down nine rebounds.

Thomas Levesque, Adam Bouchard and Thomas Levesque scored eight points apiece for the Warriors.

bdnsports@bangordailynews.net

WOLVERINES 57, EAGLES 56

George Stevens (12-8) Schenck (16-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Walton 3 7 1 2 9 Hutchins 5 12 1 2 13

Ensworth 1 3 2 2 4 McLghlin 1 2

Springer 1 6 3 4 5 Lowell 6 14 16

Astbury 0 1 2 2 2 Waite 0 1 0

Frazier 2 7 2 4 6 McCaffrty 0 0

Ingraham 1 2 0 1 2 Thmpson 5 15 17

Saunders 9 20 4 4 22 Lewis 4 12 9

Jordan 2 4 2 2 6

Totals 19 50 16 21 56 Totals 21 55 13 57

George Stevens 12 31 47 56

Schenck 14 28 41 57

3-pt. goals – George Stevens (2-7): Walton 2-5, Frazier 0-2; Schenck (6-16): Thompson 2-5, Lowell 2-5, Hutchins 2-6

PANDAS 69, WARRIORS 36

Fort Kent (11-9) Lee Acad. (14-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Voisine 2 19 4 8 8 Rodriguez 7 14 3 5 17

Charette 0 1 0 0 0 Guido 1 3 2

Ja. Soucy 0 1 0 0 0 Bingham 1 5 3

Rioux 1 1 0 0 2 Harris 2 3 8

Levesque 4 8 0 0 8 Parker 5 8 12

S.Bouchrd 0 2 0 0 0 Stevens 2 3 4

Potvin 1 1 0 0 2 MacDnld 2 7 6

Cyr 0 0 0 0 0 Norris 0 2 3 3

A.Bouchrd 3 10 2 7 8 Doty 0 2 0

Harvey 2 13 0 0 6 Medina 4 12 14

Jo. Soucy 0 3 0 0 0 Beers 0 2 0

Lesaldo 0 2 0 0 0

Deschenes 1 2 0 0 2

Totals 14 63 6 15 36 Totals 24 61 17 21 69

Fort Kent 12 16 29 36

Lee Academy 15 34 45 69

3-pt. goals – Fort Kent (2-14): Harvey 2-7, Voisine 0-3, Jo. Soucy 0-3, Levesque 0-1; Lee Acad. (4-16): Medina 2-4, Harris 2-2, MacDonald 0-2, Bingham 0-2, Rodriguez 0-1, Parker 0-2, Stevens 0-1, Doty 0-1, Guido 0-1