PALMER - Hampshire Regional girls basketball coach Desi Vega said his team came into its western Massachusetts Division 2 quarterfinal against unbeaten Palmer with nothing to lose.

With just a few minutes remaining, the Red Raiders were in position to "shock the Pioneer Valley." as Vega told his players before the game.

However, the top-seeded Panthers delivered in the clutch at home to post a 51-47 victory in an intense, physical battle.

Palmer (21-0) advances to the semifinals to face No. 4 Wahconah (15-6) at the Curry Hicks Cage. The date and time are still to be determined.

"We almost did it," said Vega, whose team lost twice to the Panthers by 28 and 25 points during the regular season. "All credit to (Palmer), they're a great team, well-coached, and a class act."

"We knew they were 20-0 and had the pressure against them," said senior guard Ashlee Moussette. "We all came out playing like it was our last game ever. We played pretty well, even though it's still heart-breaking."

No. 8 Hampshire (13-9) held a 43-40 advantage midway through the fourth quarter, but Palmer (21-0) closed the game on an 11-4 run to remain unblemished.

In the rare spot of trailing in a game, the Panthers' senior duo of Katrina Caulfield and Alyssa Orszulak teamed up to put them back on top. Caulfield scored and was fouled. She missed the ensuing free throw, but Orszulak gathered in the miss and laid it in to regain the lead for Palmer.

"That brought us down a little bit, but down the stretch we probably should have slowed up on offense," said Moussette. "We might have pushed it too hard."

The teams then exchanged 3-point shots. Margo McCarthy put Hampshire ahead by a pair, but Halie Laviolette connected to make it 47-46 Palmer.

A free throw by Sarah Kober (12 points) tied the game at 47 with 1:30 to go. But Laviolette knocked down the last of her five triples to deliver Palmer from what would have been a gigantic upset.

On somewhat of an off night for both Orszulak (14 points) and Caulfield (nine points, 10 rebounds), Laviolette posted a game-high 17 points.

Vega said Hampshire used a different defense this time against Palmer. He had a smaller defender double down on Caulfield and clogged the middle of the floor, making Palmer shoot from the outside.

"Laviolette lit it up, made some big shots at the end," Vega said. "I thought we did a great job overall defensively. They've got great players, starters and players coming off the bench."

"One of the big things for us was to force them left and keep them to the outside, and I think we did that well," Moussette said.

In the fourth, Moussette nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing for a 41-40 Hampshire lead, their first of the second half. Moussette came alive in the second half with 11 of her team-best 13 points.

Freshmen forward Sarah Kober had her second straight strong playoff game with 12 points, a game-high 16 rebounds, and four steals, and she will be a building block for the Raiders in the coming years.

"She's huge, I can't say enough about her," Vega said. "There's a lot of young talent coming up. It's there, and we're getting back" to being a power.

Palmer took an early 4-0 lead and tried to employ their customary backcourt pressure, but Hampshire moved and passed their way through the press and the Panthers did not use it for the final three-plus quarters.

"In the first two games, their pressure killed us," said Vega. "We turned it over numerous times. And we weren't able to practice (Wednesday) with the snowstorm, and we didn't even put in what we wanted to do until tonight. It was simple, it worked, and (Palmer) had to pull it out."

A 10-2 Red Raider run gave them a 10-6 lead late in the first period and let Palmer know they were in for a battle.

Leading by three at the half, the Panthers came out strong to start the second half with a 7-0 run to go up 31-21. But Hampshire would not go away and closed to 35-34 before a 3-pointer by Alyssa Darling gave Palmer a four-point advantage going into the fourth.

The Red Raiders hurt themselves with 23 turnovers, 17 of them being forced by the suffocating Palmer trap defense. Darling had five steals, Orszulak four and Laviolette three.

It was the final game for Hampshire seniors Moussette, Lauren McGrath (nine points) and Kathleen O'Connor (two).

"If you want to say that was a great loss to send off my three seniors, I guess that's worth saying," said Vega. "We were right there, and we played well.

"Our seniors have been great," he added. "I've coached them the last three years and on the JV team. Ashlee, Lauren and Kathleen and wonderful kids. Not just great basketball players, but great people off the court."

"It was a lot of fun" at Hampshire," Moussette said. "It went from a great experience to having to improve and now we're going back up. It feels good."