LAPEER >> It wasn’t a 32-minute picture of perfection for West Bloomfield, but the defending state champs had more ups than downs and got past Grand Blanc 45-30 in Monday’s regional semifinal.

The matchup was not only a rematch of last year’s D1 state final that the Lakers won 60-30, but of West Bloomfield’s 67-28 win in Grand Blanc on Feb. 27, though senior Rayven McQueen (Detroit Mercy) did not play for the Bobcats in that meeting at the end of the regular season.

“At this point in the year, it’s all about survive and advance,” Lakers head coach Darrin McAllister said. “We know we’re going to have moments where we play alright and moment where we’re just not focusing and doing what we’re supposed to be doing, and we had that. People think we’re an experienced team because we went to the playoffs and won a couple state championships. We’re an experienced program, but for these girls it’s still kind of brand new.”

Up 29-20 midway through, the Lakers came out of the lockers and scored seven of the first nine points to start the second half, finishing under the hoop for all three of them and stretching the lead up to 14.

Turnovers here and there throughout the third were about all that prevented West Bloomfield from finishing off Grand Blanc, who struggled to knock down shots from the field at a consistent clip after the opening quarter and scored just three points in the first 4:50 of the third. It remained doable at that point as McQueen connected on a triple from up top that got her team within nine in the final two minutes of the period.

Offensively, though, it bottomed out for the Bobcats from there.

Lakers senior Ava Lord got to the rack for the first bucket of the fourth by either team with 6:30 left, and Liggins answered it about 45 seconds later, but Lord immediately drove the paint hard on her next attempt and got fouled with the bucket for a three-point play that got it back to a dozen with 5:30 left.

A triple by Beal in the corner just over a minute after that made it a 15-point game, 45-30. That aforementioned bucket by Liggins accounted for Grand Blanc’s only points in the entire fourth quarter.

“I think when you’re at this point in the playoffs, it’s about making adjustments,” McAllister said. “They’re a well-coached team — a great coach over there — but down the stretch, ours just happened to be better adjustments.”

Beal, who hit six 3-pointers for 20 points in the game played 11 days prior, and also the lone holdover starter from last year’s championship team, again made her mark in this one.

Junior Parc Liggins and McQueen combined for all but one of Grand Blanc’s 14 first-quarter points, and that allowed the Bobcats to trail by just two at its conclusion. But Beal matched the Bobcats’ total scoring in the second quarter (six points) by herself in a span of about 40 seconds on a pair of separate plays resulting in three points, the latter of which came on a 3-pointer knocked down in front of Grand Blanc’s bench to put the Lakers up by a down with 1:45 left until halftime.

“Yeah, I think (that helped break it open),” said Beal, who finished with a game-high 16 points. “It was going a little slow for a second, but I think that got us some momentum, a little bit of energy, got the whole team involved a little bit.”

On being the focus of defenses without Summer and Indya Davis around, Beal said, “I just see it as an opportunity. It’s kind of saying something that people are face-guarding me, but I just try to stay calm and play within the offense.”

Liggins, who had five treys in the February meeting, ended with 14 points, just one shy of McQueen’s team-high 15 in the loss, which concludes the Bobcats’ year at 12-12. They also had significant attrition from last year’s 23-win team, including Chelsea Bishop, now at Eastern Michigan.

Lord added a dozen points in the win for the Lakers (17-8), who will play Clarkston in Wednesday’s regional final. The Wolves won the first game between the teams this year by seven, then West Bloomfield captured a one-point victory in Clarkston near the end of the regular season.

“At the end of the day, (whether it’s Clarkston or Eisenhower), we’ve got to worry about us,” McAllister said.