By DOUG DONNELLY

SAND CREEK – Erie Mason and Whiteford took similar paths to Friday’s Division 3 District championship games.

Both teams built a lead in the middle two quarters, then closed the game by making just enough free throws stay comfortably in front and win district semfinal games Wednesday at Sand Creek.

Erie Mason beat St. Mary Catholic Central 51-38, while Whiteford downed Adrian Madison, 48-31. The two teams will meet at 7 p.m. Friday for a district crown.

“We are excited to be in the finals,” Whiteford coach Nick Abalos said. “We’ll get to work tomorrow and come ready Friday. This is where we wanted to be.”

The Bobcats led by as many as seven in the second quarter and withstood a Madison rally in Wednesday’s second game. Madison tied the game at 26-26 with a 9-2 run to open the third quarter, but a Josh Hill free throw with 47 seconds left in the third quarter put the Bobcats up 27-26, Luke Rasor grabbed an offensive rebound off his own missed free throw with 16 seconds left and Shea Ruddy got open under the bucket for a layup at the third quarter buzzer for a 31-26 Bobcat lead.

Whiteford then opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run, climaxed by an offensive rebound basket by sophomore Lincoln Joerin with 6:35 left in the game for a 36-26 lead.

“They were outrebounding us early,” Abalos said. “We challenged the kids on that. We rebounded much better in the second half. I was proud of them for that.”

The Bobcats closed out the game by making seven of 14 free throws down the stretch.

Rasor finished with 14 points, Cole Giesige nine points and Isaiah Joerin and Ruddy had eight points apiece in a balanced effort. Abalos said having 10 players contributing to the win played a big part in the win.

“We had 10 guys out there and we thought if we could just keep playing we could wear them down,” Abalos said. “We’ve been doing that all year.”

It also helped that Whiteford had its best offensive quarter of the night in the fourth, while holding Madison to just five points.

The Eagles improved to 16-5 and face Whiteford, a team it beat twice during the regular season to win the Tri-County Conference.

“It’s going to be a dog fight,” Erie Mason coach Kevin Skaggs said.

Whiteford 48, Madison 31

Whiteford;9;11;11;17;–;48

Madison;6;9;11;5;–;31

WHITEFORD: S. Ruddy 1 4-6 8, Hill 0 1-2 1, I. Joerin 3(1) 1-5 8, Rasor 5 4-7 14, Parker 1 0-0 2, Giesige 3(1) 2-4 9, DeBarr 1 0-0 2, Andrews 1 0-0 2, L. Joerin 1 0-0 2. Totals 16(2) 12-24 48.

MADISON: Burciaga 3(3) 1-3 10, Powers 3 0-0 6, Carter Grof 1 0-0 2, Neal 1 1-2 3, Holly 1 0-1 2, A. Nieto 2 0-0 4, M. Nieto 2 0-3 4. Totals 13(3) 2-9 31.