AUGUSTA – Vinalhaven’s depth and quickness caught up to top-seeded Forest Hills in a Western Class D boys’ basketball semifinal Wednesday at the Augusta Civic Center.

The fifth-seeded Vikings ran and pressed, then held on to win 53-44 and reach the regional final for a second straight year.

And for a second straight year the Vikings (11-6) will play Richmond (15-3) in the final at 2:45 p.m. Saturday at Augusta.

Forest Hills (14-6) led by as many as six points in the second quarter, but Vinalhaven closed the half with a 6-0 run to take a 24-20 lead it never relinquished.

“They just had more athletes on the floor than we did,” Forest Hills Coach Anthony Amero said. “We’re pretty limited and we knew that going into it.”

The Vikings used a zone press that forced several of the Tigers’ 25 turnovers. They were effective even after starters Steven Osgood and Brian Stanley sat with early foul trouble.

“I’m very fortunate that I have a lot of good ballplayers on this team,” Vinalhaven Coach Matt Slivinsky said. “My two main guys, if they get in foul trouble, if I can keep it even I’d rather save them for the second half.”

Osgood, the team’s leading scorer, had just two points in the first half, but Willie Drury filled the void with 14 of his 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

“I play a lot but I don’t usually score,” Drury said. “The last tournament game we won, I didn’t score any points at all.”

Osgood returned in the second half and immediately stole the ball twice for layups. That started an 11-0 run that gave the Vikings a 35-23 lead.

“You could see the Osgood kid when he came on in the third quarter,” Amero said. “He looked so fast compared to anybody out there.”

Dylan McNally led a Forest Hills charge with nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, all in the paint. His three-point play with 4:59 left drew the Tigers within 43-42.

“I was thinking comeback,” McNally said. “Honestly, I thought we were going to pull that one out.”

Two free throws from Dillon Ames (10 points) made it 45-42 before Stanley hit a 3-pointer from the top of the circle.

“That was the dagger,” McNally said.