Portland — The fifth-seeded Wells Warriors (9-10) fell 62-53 to the fourth-seeded Lincoln Academy Eagles in a Class B South quarterfinal matchup at the Portland Expo on Saturday afternoon.

In their regular-season matchup on Dec. 22, Lincoln Academy downed the Warriors at home 65-58 in Newcastle. In this contest, the result was no different.

Lincoln Academy’s Nathan Masters controlled the opening tip for the Eagles. Kobe Lincoln fed Masters for a baseline runner for the game’s opening basket. Wells’ Keegan Reidy stole a pass on the following Lincoln Academy possession and streaked down the court for a layup.

The Warriors were unable to penetrate into the 2-3 zone deployed by Lincoln Academy, holding the Warriors to just one more field goal in the first quarter. At the end of one, the Eagles lead the Warriors 7-4.

Lincoln Academy began the second quarter with a 9-3 run, keyed by Keyden Leeman’s NBA distance 3-pointer. Following a Riley Cushing offensive rebound and put back for the Eagles, Wells coach Troy Brown took a timeout at with 5:25 left in the first half to quell the Eagles. On the ensuing possession, the Warriors’ Deandre Woods showed resilience as he converted a contested post shot for his first points to make the score 16-9.

After a Lincoln Academy offensive foul, the Warriors began to play a halfcourt trap on defense to try and hurry up the Eagles offense.

“We played a great defensive first half and maybe five minutes of the third quarter,” said Brown.

The trap proved effective, as the Warriors closed the half on a 14-3 run capped off by a Matt Sherburne 3-pointer just before the first half buzzer to narrow the deficit to 19-18.

The Warriors opened the second half with a Tyler Dewey 3-pointer 22 seconds into give the Warriors their first lead of the contest. It was Deandre Woods who stole the show in the hopeful third quarter for the Warriors. The 6-foot-3 junior forward racked up nine points in the quarter showing his relentlessness on the offensive glass as two of the baskets came on put backs as the Warriors were able to stretch the lead to five midway through the third quarter.

The Eagles stormed back as Leeman nailed another 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 35-32 advantage with 1:02 left in the frame. Riley Dempsey hit two free throws for the Warriors at the end of the quarter making it 35-34 Lincoln Academy.

Fourth quarter action was all Lincoln Academy as Cody Tozier began the final quarter by nailing two 3-pointers from the left wing to increase the Lincoln Academy lead to 41-34. Lincoln Academy dominated by converting myriad shots from inside, outside, and the free throw line to put the game out of Warrior reach.

Senior center Hunter Williams of Lincoln Academy was able to score his first point of the year on a free throw with just over two minutes in regulation. Riley Dempsey of Wells sliced through the Eagle defense and glided to the rim to bring the deficit back down to 10 points with 1:27 left in the game. Matt Marrero found room to float up a shot to bring the deficit back down to single digits, but it wasn’t enough for the Warriors.

“I thought my kids worked really hard. I think we needed to execute a little bit better offensively. I love my kids, we were led by six great seniors who worked their tails off in practice every day,” said Brown.

The Eagles (9-10) will face the top-seeded Lake Region Lakers in the Class B South semifinal round on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.