Known for its offense, the South Portland girls’ basketball team showed its defensive chops Monday night.

The No. 5 Red Riots kept No. 4 Deering from ever getting into an offensive flow in their 49-37 Western Class A regional quarterfinal win at the Portland Expo.

South Portland had two prime offensive threats Monday. Maddie Hasson led all scorers with 22 points and poised freshman Meghan Graff added 18.

Hasson sealed the win making 6 of 7 free throws in the fourth quarter but she said Holly Black and Paige Carter combining to shut out Amanda Brett was the key.

“We knew coming into the game that we had to shut down Amanda Brett. She killed us the last time we played. She had 20 points in the second half (of Deering’s 59-54 win),” said Hasson. “Holly and Paige our two seniors, I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

South Portland (15-5) will play No. 1 McAuley (17-1) in the semifinals at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Cross Insurance Arena.

Lodia Ismail and Tasia Titherington each scored 10 for Deering (15-4). Ismail had nine in the first half as Deering slogged its way to a 21-18 lead.

Titherington, the Rams’ leading scorer and 3-point shooter, was held in check by Lydia Henderson.

“It just comes down to defense and these were a bunch of kids who got knocked out in the quarterfinal last year and said we will not let that happen again,” said South Portland Coach Lynne Hasson.

After a solid first half, Graff put the Red Riots in front to stay early in the third quarter on back-to-back baskets. Her 3-pointer with a minute left in the quarter pushed the lead to 30-25.

Then Graff, after missing a layup, hustled down a loose ball near the scorer’s table. The play resulted in Hasson’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer for a 33-25 lead after three quarters.

“I just try to not think of myself as a freshman because I don’t want people to look down on me,” Graff said.

“I want to go out and be confident. I want to do something out on the court.”

Deering Coach Mike Murphy used multiple timeouts and substitutions in search of a spark.

“We just did a poor job of boxing out at the defensive end, they outhustled us, key rebounds that ended up in baskets and open threes,” Murphy said.