Bangor -- Junior Trevor Fogarty and sophomore Bailey Spack came through in the fourth quarter for the Dexter Tigers boys basketball team Wednesday morning.
Fogarty hit three clutch free throws in the final 10 seconds to lift the sixth seeded Tigers to a 41-38 class C quarterfinal victory over the third seeded Pandas at the Bangor Auditorium.
Fogarty said, "They are big free throws and you have to make them."
Spack hit two free throws and a three pointer in the fourth quarter. He finished with 13 points including hitting 3 three-pointers.
"Someone had to shoot the ball from the outside. Our sophomore stepped up big for us today,"Dexter coach Peter Murray said. "He is not playing like a sophomore anymore. He is a veteran player and has ice water in his veins."
The Tigers had a shorter bench and were undersized against the Pandas due to the suspension of Dylan Graffam.
Murray decided to play a defense a Dexter team has not played for an entire game in many years. His players executed and the Tigers pulled off the upset.
"That is the first time we played zone all year. With their size and with us being undermanned that is really the only choice we had,"Murray said." Kids rose to the occasion. Playing a 2-3 zone the whole game, you probably have to go back 25-30 years in Dexter history."
Fogarty led the Tigers with 17 points, five rebounds, two steals and one block.
"Dylan is a huge presence. He is a huge loss,"Fogarty said. "We knew we had to come together as a team and moments like these define a season."
Matt Crane chipped in with seven points and six rebounds for the Tigers. Casey Jordan and Dustin Sirabella scored two points each.
Dexter (12-7) will face Penquis in a semifinal game Friday, February 22nd at 7 p.m. The Tigers handed the Patriots their only loss on the season in a game that Isaiah Bess and Cody Herbest missed for Penquis.
"Milo (Penquis) has Isaiah Bess and Trevor Lyford,"Fogarty said. "Two of the best in high school basketball."
Murray added, "They (Penquis) are very athletic. They put five athletic kids on the floor."
Nathanael Thurlow led the Pandas with 12 points. Jason Wu added 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Lee finishes the season with a 13-6 record.
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