BANGOR -- Three of the boys and girls basketball games at Tuesday's Eastern B semifinals featured great offense and entertaining, crowd-pleasing shots.

Then came the Waterville girls, so brutally efficient on defense that they drew out all the suspense and excitement by the middle of the first quarter.

But that's what the Purple Panthers have done all season. With a 54-31 win over No. 4 Erskine at the Bangor Auditorium, the Panthers are now 20-0 and within two games of their second consecutive Class B title.

Top-ranked Waterville forced 28 turnovers and held Erskine to 21 percent shooting. By halftime, the Eagles had 16 turnovers and 15 field goal attempts, and Waterville was ahead 31-8.

"We really try to execute on defense," said Waterville junior center Morgan Frame, who finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds. "Coach (Ted Rioux) just said today, 'Offense wins games, and defense wins championships,' so we're really working hard on our defense."

Frame was all but unstoppable as she consistently got easy shots in the paint. At 6-feet, Erskine has no one to match up with her size-wise, and with Paige Gardiner, Jen Nale and Sarah Given all hitting from the outside, Erskine couldn't afford to use two defenders on Frame.

"We've got great shooters," Rioux said. "When those shooters are hitting their shots, it's going to give (Morgan) some single coverage. And if you give her single coverage, she'll eat you alive." Nale scored 11 points, while Gardiner had nine and Given added seven. The Panthers used a 19-2 run in the first half to take a 21-4 lead, and were never threatened after that.

"They're better than we are," Erskine coach Scott Corey said. "We had to play almost perfect and had to have some breaks go our way, and we didn't have anything really go our way in the first half."

Ashley Richardson led Erskine with 12 points. The Eagles finished 16-5 after going 3-15 last season in Class B, marking the first time they have won more than 15 games in Corey's tenure as coach.

"They've raised the bar for us," Corey said. "They're in (the locker room), smiles on their faces. They're disappointed, but they've got it in perspective, and I really, really appreciate that about them."

Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com