A No. 11 team beating a No. 3 team, as Wells did to previously unbeaten Spruce Mountain in the Western Class B girls' quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon, may seem like a huge upset. But it's not so much of upset when you look at the respective leagues.

Spruce Mountain plays in the Mountain Valley Conference and faces mostly Class C teams during the regular season, while Wells (9-11) plays in the tough Western Maine Conference.

"We go against the likes of Lake Region, York and Greely two times each during the regular season," said Wells Coach Don Abbott. "It's like a war in the conference night in and night out.

"Spruce Mountain was known as a pressing team, but we faced pressing teams all season."

Wells advanced with a 43-42 win and will play a familiar foe, York, in the semifinals Thursday at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

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VarsityMaine The Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram put a priority on high school sports coverage, and this blog is a place for all our reporters to put news and notes from around the state.

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Maine High School Sports Bloggers

Paul Betit is an Augusta native and graduate of the University of Maine. He has covered Maine high school sports for more than 30 years and is entering his seventh season as a beat writer covering the Portland Pirates. In his spare time, Betit writes mystery-suspense novels. Occasionally, he tries to sink his second career hole-in-one.

Glenn Jordan came to Maine in 1994 to cover the nascent Portland Sea Dogs. After eight baseball seasons and three children – the last two within 18 minutes of each other – he became a part-time writer. Among the sports he covers are now are tennis, skiing, swimming and running. He has a degree in philosophy from Dartmouth, a decent forehand and a penchant for checkers.

Mike Lowe is a Massachusetts native who feels he's lived long enough in Maine (since 1982) to have roots here. He graduated from Boston University and has worked in New Hampshire and Maine, covering everything from the Little League World Series to the Summer Olympics. When he has free time – Ha! – he likes to read, collect comic books and watch the grass grow from his hammock.

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