GLADSTONE — Timely shooting helped Dollar Bay’s cause here Tuesday night in a 55-46 basketball triumph over Pickford in a Division 4 state quarterfinal contest.

The victory sends the Blue Bolts to the semifinals at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center where they’ll face Detroit Douglass tonight at 5:30. The Panthers finished 25-1.

Senior Liam Tourtillott drained a half-dozen three-point shots in this match-up, including a 23-footer which gave Dollar Bay a 27-23 halftime lead.

“Liam hit some big shots for us and Caleb (Kentala) hit a big one from the corner,” Dollar Bay coach Jesse Kentala said. “We’re excited and I’m blessed to share this with our team, including my son.”

Both teams prefer to play uptempo. The Blue Bolts, however, slowed the pace during the second quarter.

“There’s nothing we like better than to run the floor, but they packed the paint pretty well,” Kentala said. “We had to be patient and take what their defense gave us, which is not what we like to do. That’s a very well coached team.”

Senior guard Mac Collins hit a three-foot jumper to bring the Panthers within 27-25 to begin the third quarter.

Dollar Bay extended its lead to 30-25 on a 20-foot jump shot by junior Baron Colbert.

The Panthers responded with five unanswered points, tying the score on a pair of free throws by senior forward Gunner Bennin.

Dollar Bay regained the lead at 32-30 on a layup by Colbert midway through the third stanza.

Collins answered with a layup, enabling Pickford to pull even at 32 with 2:21 remaining in the third.

A layup by Collins gave the Panthers a 38-32 lead with 1:17 left in the third.

Tourtillot then drained 21-foot jumper from the left wing to shave Dollar Bay’s deficit to three points at the buzzer.

Collins began the fourth frame by hitting a layup on an inbound pass from junior guard Jacob Mitchell for a 40-35 cushion.

Senior Caleb Kentala’s set shot from the corner brought the Blue Bolts within two points and a 21-foot jumper by Tourtillott gave them a 41-40 lead with 5:05 left in the contest.

“It was a good game,” Tourtillot said. “We had to hit the three-pointers to win the game. They came in here 25-0 for a reason. We started a little slow as we did against North Dickinson (in Thursday’s 62-46 regional final victory over the Nordics at Negaunee). North Dickinson was a great defensive team. We just weathered the storm. It’s an amazing feeling to be going down to the Breslin Center. I’ve been wanting to do this since I was in fourth grade when my uncle went down there.”

Pickford took its last lead at 46-45 on a 20-foot jumper by Collins with 3:05 left.

Dollar Bay concluded the contest by scoring the last 10 points, climaxed by Colbert’s floater from the lane in the closing moments.

The Panthers came out like gangbusters, gaining a 12-3 lead on a turn-around jumper from the boulevard by junior Carter Yiirs midway through the opening frame.

Pickford, however, trimmed its deficit to 17-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Tourtillott finished with 23 points. Colbert added 16 and Caleb Kentala had 10.

Collins was Pickford’s leader with 17 points and Yiirs ended with 12.

Both teams committed 11 turnovers.

“That’s a little more than we like,” Tourtillott said. “We like to keep it under 10.”

Pickford 17 6 15 8 — 46

Dollar Bay 13 10 12 20 — 55

Pickford — Bennin 6, Wiltfong 3, Collins 17, Andrzejak 8, Yiirs 12. FT: 6-6; F: 12; Fouled out: Bennin; 3-point field goals: Collins 2, Andrzejak 2, Wiltfong.

Dollar Bay — Kentala 10, Colbert 16, L. Tourtillott 23, Jaehnig 6. FT: 5-9; F: 6; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: L. Tourtillott 6, Kentala 2, Colbert 2.