PORTLAND — The No. 3 Wells boys basketball team used solid defense and big performances in the paint to cruise to a 44-29 Class B South quarterfinals win over No. 6 Maranacook on Saturday at the Portland Expo.

The Warriors were led by big men Deandre Woods and Cam Cousins, with Woods tallying 17 points and Cousins 13 on the day.

Wells jumped out to an early 12-6 lead in the first quarter, then later extended its lead to 19-9 at the halftime break.

The Warriors would explode in the third quarter, outscoring Maranacook 18-4 and putting the game out of reach heading into the fourth quarter.

Woods and Cousins combined for 14 third-quarter points, as the Bears failed to slow down the pair.

“The first half we came out soft, slow and with not enough energy. Then in the second half we pounded the boards a little more,” said Cousins. “That’s what we go into every game looking for matchup-wise. Most teams can’t guard both of us.”

“They really didn’t have an answer for us and we kept getting looks, we capitalized on that,” added Woods.

Wells coach Troy Brown was proud of his club’s performance in the third quarter, as the Warriors have struggled in recent years coming out the half.

“The third quarter was huge — the last few years with this group we’ve struggled in the third quarter. We’ve come out and let games slip away from us or we’ve let teams get back into games. Today we didn’t do that. I was very proud of the kids for the effort they put forth to give us that cushion,” said Brown.

Although the Warriors won convincingly, Brown believes there is room for improvement moving forward, specifically with ball security, as Wells turned the ball over a handful of times in the second quarter.

“We definitely have to cut down the turnovers. I thought we gave the ball away quite a bit and gave them extra opportunities,” said Brown.

The Warriors improve to 14-5 overall on the year, and will next face No. 2 Spruce Mountain. Spruce Mountain topped Wells 59-51 in the regular season, and the Warriors expect another tight battle in the semis.

“It should be a good game, we lost to them away up there this regular season and they’ve got good home game … it should be good,” said Woods.

This will be the first time the Warriors have played in the semifinal round during Brown’s tenure with the team, and the players are proud of what they have accomplished this year.

“It’s a great accomplishment … we’re looking forward to the next game,” said Cousins.

— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at [email protected] or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.