BANGOR -- The Erskine girls have long been a team that realizes basketball is supposed to be fun. And even though they were playing at the historic Bangor Auditorium for the first time, the Eagles acted like they didn't have any concerns at all.

"The atmosphere is obviously really different," senior forward Ericka Malley said. "The court is a little bigger. But we came out, we knew what we had to do, so it didn't really matter."

Even though she missed action with foul trouble, Malley put up 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the fourth-ranked Eagles edged No. 5 Camden Hills 53-49 in an Eastern B quarterfinal Saturday afternoon.

"(Ericka) played like a senior should play," Erskine coach Scott Corey said. "If you haven't noticed, I don't think she has a pulse. She did a tremendous job of just playing."

Malley picked up her third foul with 2 minutes, 17 seconds left in the half, and the Eagles were up 26-23 at the break. But the third quarter decided the game. When Malley re-entered the game with 5:34 left in the quarter, Erskine led by six. When she went back to bench, after scoring nine points in four minutes, Erskine's lead was 13.

Camden (14-6) made a valiant run behind Allie Parent (game-high 27 points) and Kristin Tedford (10). The Windjammers got as close as three points with 1:05 to play in the game, but prior to that surge, they missed their first seven foul shots of the quarter, and that ultimately made the difference.

"I don't even have to look at the (score)book -- free throws cost us the game," Camden coach Jay Carlsen said. "I don't care what team it is -- you've got to make shots at the free throw line in the tournament, or you won't win."

Camden had a chance to get within a point, but Parent (11 of 20 from the field) missed a shot, and Erskine's Brit Belden ended up making three key foul shots in the final 45 seconds.

"We got in foul trouble early, and that limited our bench," Carlsen said. "So (Allie) played a lot of minutes, and I'm sure she was tired and didn't have her legs underneath her as much as I would have liked. If I could do things differently, maybe I should have subbed a little bit more."

Ashley Richardson added 13 points and nine rebounds for Erskine (16-4). Belden and Jess St. Amand also made several nice passes apiece to create easy layups.

"I've never been around a group of kids that was as relaxed and carefree as they were," Corey said. "They just want to play. They enjoy each other's company. I think that has a lot to do with the way they played today."

Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com