Chloe Smedley carried top-seeded York for three quarters. Then Shannon Todd took over and put away upset-minded Morse on Wednesday afternoon in a 52-33 Class A South semifinal girls’ basketball victory at Cross Insurance Arena.

Held in check through 24 minutes, Todd scored six straight points, then set up Smedley for four more as York pounced on the Shipbuilders with a 15-3 spree to open the fourth quarter and expand a tenuous 31-26 lead.

York’s Mia Briggs looks for a shot against Signe Ostergaard of Morse during a Class A South girls’ basketball semifinal Wednesday afternoon in Portland. The top-seeded Wildcats remained unbeaten, pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 52-33 win. John Ewing/Staff Photographer

“For about two minutes, Shannon took over for us,” York Coach Rick Clark said.

Smedley scored 16 of her 22 points in the first three quarters.

“I guess I just felt it and went with it, and my team was behind me,” Smedley said.

That effort was needed to keep York (20-0) ahead of No. 5 Morse (11-9), which competed well from the opening minutes.

York’s win set up a much-anticipated regional final against No. 2 Greely (17-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Cross Insurance Arena. York won two high-scoring, regular-season matchups, 78-64 in Cumberland in December and 66-64 in York in January.

“Hopefully it ends in the same result as it always does and we win,” Smedley said. “If we just play our game I know we can win. … Greely’s been our main competition the entire season.”

York features a strong frontcourt of seniors Smedley, Northeastern-bound Todd and unsung Mia Briggs.

Greely returns four of its top six players from last year’s Class B state champions, plus dynamic freshman point guard Anna DeWolfe. The Rangers set a Class A record for 3-pointers in a game with 11 in their 58-36 semifinal win against Leavitt.

“They’ve hit a lot of open 3s,” Clark said. “I don’t think they’re going to have a lot of open 3s. Hopefully not, anyway.”

Clark, 66, is in his 34th and final season as York’s varsity girls’ coach. Earlier this season, he earned his 500th career win, including three years as York’s boys’ coach. Saturday will be the Wildcats’ 15th regional final with Clark. His teams have won five regional titles and three Class B state championships (1992, 1994 and 2010).

Morse clearly had intentions of disrupting the storyline.

Four-year starting point guard Signe Ostergaard challenged York’s frontcourt with drives into the lane and scored 11 points. Junior forward Noa Sreden led the Shipbuilders with 13.

Morse led three times in the first quarter and tied the game twice in the second. York led 16-13, 25-20 and 31-26 at the breaks.

“We talked a lot about it, that we had nothing to lose,” Morse Coach Becky Roak said, adding that her team built confidence with its 42-37 win against rival Brunswick in the quarterfinals. “They were relaxed and came in feeling, ‘Hey, let’s give them a game.’ I thought defensively we were really strong.”

York struggled with Morse’s 1-3-1 zone, which got to the perimeter quickly. Smedley was able to find some creases and converted 8 of 13 shots through three quarters, while the rest of the team shot 5 of 24, including Todd’s 1 of 10 (1 of 6 on 3s).

In the fourth quarter, Madigan Cogger made her first basket of the game, a 3-pointer, on York’s first possession. Then the 5-foot-11 Todd took the ball hard off the dribble twice, drawing fouls and making all four free throws to push York’s lead to 10.

Sreden tried to answer with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. But Todd reached out, blocked the shot and raced in for a contested layup.

Cogger kept it going with a high-arcing floater and York was in command, 42-28.

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