BANGOR — It’s often said in basketball circles that it’s tough to beat a good team three times in one season.

That was the case for the Ellsworth Eagles on Saturday at the Bangor Auditorium as the Presque Isle Wildcats avenged two regular season losses to Ellsworth by downing the Eagles 57-46 in Eastern Maine Class B boys’ quarterfinal action.

The game was close through the first half with Ellsworth holding a 14-13 lead after one period and the Wildcats pulling ahead 22-17 in a second period that saw the Eagles manage just four points.

But the fifth-ranked Wildcats went on a 10-2 run to open the second half, building a 13-point lead and going on to dash fourth-ranked Ellsworth’s hopes of advancing deeper into the regional tournament.

The Wildcats made good use of their height advantage, with 6-6 forward Matt Eager and 6-5 forward Tyler Brooks helping to give them a 26-16 rebounding edge.

The result was that the Eagles often got just one shot per possession, and the three-pointers that customarily play a bit part in the Ellsworth offense just weren’t falling (6-for-23).

Meanwhile, the Wildcats — who weren’t known for their three-point shooting — got four of them from 6-3 forward Andrew Kofstad, who had a game-high 20 points for the Wildcats.

In the all-important third-period run by Presque Isle, Kofstad hit a pair of threes and scored another basket off a full-court pass en route to a 32-19 lead.

Ellsworth battled back, cutting the lead to 34-28 as Kyle Haslam scored from underneath, Thomas Sawyer hit back-to-back baskets — one of them a three — and Nick Holt netted another from just inside the arc.

But Kofstad banged home another three, Eager hit a pair of foul shots and Cole Richards scored a fast break layup to put the Wildcats back up 41-28.

Ellsworth never got inside of 10 points again as the Wildcats went 14-for-20 from the foul line through the fourth period.

Just two scorers reached double figures for Ellsworth: Holt with 11 points and Steven Mahon with 10, all of them in the second half.

The Eagles closed out their season with a record of 14-6.

For more sports news, pick up a copy of The Ellsworth American.