AUGUSTA — Ryan Weston scored 24 points and Jon McAllian added 17 as top-ranked Bangor successfully defended its Eastern Class A boys’ basketball championship Friday night with a 61-54 victory against second-seeded Edward Little at the Augusta Civic Center.

Bangor (21-0), the reigning state champion, will face Cheverus or Thornton Academy for the Class A title at 7 p.m. next Saturday at Portland. The Rams will be going for their eighth state championship in 16 years.

Edward Little (16-5), which was seeking its first regional title since 1957, threw a scare into the Rams with a fourth-quarter comeback. Corey Therriault scored 11 of his 27 points in the fourth to help the Red Eddies cut into a 12-point deficit, and three free throws by Ben Hartnett pulled them within 56-54 with just over a minute remaining.

But the Eddies didn’t score again, and Bangor made 7 of 8 free throws in the last 1:30 to secure its fourth win over Edward Little this season, including the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A championship game.

Edward Little is the only team to lose to Bangor by fewer than 15 points, doing so three times.

The Eddies led 14-12 after one quarter with the help of a pair of 3-pointers by Therriault. The game remained close throughout the second, with Bangor taking a 26-24 halftime lead on Billy Zolper’s layup at the buzzer.

McAllian got hot early in the second half, making three 3-pointers, and Weston scored five straight points later in the third quarter to give Bangor its biggest advantage, 44-32.