PORTLAND — The Brunswick Dragons began their playoff run with a familiar opponent in the Class A South quarterfinal.

The No. 2 Dragons and No. 7 Mt. Ararat Eagles traveled to the Portland Expo for a “Battle of the Bridge” clash and for the third time this season, it was the Dragons coming away with a win.

Brunswick used a dominant second quarter to come away with a 56-30 win.

“We’ve played them three times this season. They play AAU together. There’s a lot of friends,” said Brunswick coach Sam Farrell. “I don’t know if we know a team better than them, but it’s tough to beat a team three times.”

“I call it ‘the devil you know or devil you don’t know,’ because Marshwood wasn’t going to be an easy draw either,” said Mt. Ararat coach Andy Morris. “It’s kind of fun, the ‘Battle of the Bridge,’ rivalry type stuff, but they’re a good team and we knew a lot about them.”

The Eagles were able to keep pace with Brunswick in the game’s opening minutes. Abby Sirois led the Mt. Ararat offense with five points in the opening frame, helping the Eagles to a late 11-10 first-quarter lead.

The Dragons responded with a 5-0 run before the quarter came to a close. Logan Brown knocked down a 3-pointer and Alexis Guptill followed with a bucket to push Brunswick ahead, 15-11.

Brunswick continued to attack in the next frame as senior guard Charlotte MacMillan took over. MacMillan poured in 16 points in the quarter, going 4-for-4 from 3-point distance.

“We had fast ball movement,” said MacMillan. “It’s something we really work on a lot.”

“She’s a special player, but the key was she was the open one,” said Farrell. “She wasn’t forcing it. The ball hit three of four kids hands without touching the floor and then we got a great look.”

Brunswick went on an 18-1 second-quarter run led by MacMillan, who finished with 19 in the half. Guptill added four points as the Dragons took 35-15 halftime lead.

“They were outplaying us early on,” said Farrell. “They were hitting some shots and getting to loose balls. Then we turned it on.”

Brunswick continued to move the ball in the second half, finding success inside. Rosalie White took the ball to the hoop for a pair of buckets. Brown added four points in the quarter as the Dragons started to spread the scoring around. The Eagles were limited to 2-for-10 shooting from the field in the quarter, with Theresa Breed leading Mt. Ararat with four points in the third.

“We knew a lot about them,” said Morris. “But, they’re a hard matchup because they shoot well, they rebound well, and they’re a bit bigger.”

Trailing 47-24 after three quarters, Mt. Ararat opened the fourth quarter aggressive on offense. Grace Liedman took a nice pass from Kyla Greenleaf in for two. Liedman, a senior, later added a pair from the free-throw line. Morris was pleased his young team that finished 4-14 a year ago got the tournament experience.

“When your program is trying to turn around the first step is getting to this floor and getting a taste of it, getting everybody on it,” said Morris. “We accomplished that goal. Now the girls just have to realize it’s not going to come easy next year.”

Mt. Ararat finished 8-11, while the 18-1 Dragons advanced to the semifinal. Brunswick moves on to face No. 3 Marshwood as the Hawks beat York, 59-37, in the first game on Monday. The Dragons and Hawks meet at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Wednesday at 10 a.m.

“I don’t think Brunswick has ever played Marshwood in a preseason game, a regular season game and definitely not in the playoffs,” said Farrell. “Every kid they put on the floor ran the floor and was looking to shoot, so they’ll be a tough team to play.”

MacMillan finished with 23 points for the Dragons and Guptill chipped in 12. Breed led the Eagles with nine points.

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