GRAY – Facing its biggest deficit of the game, the Gray-New Gloucester girls’ basketball team had seen enough.
Down 30-25 late in the third quarter Monday, the Patriots turned the tide on Poland in a 42-36 victory.
A late flurry in the third quarter tied the game, and the Patriots kept rolling with 11 straight points.
“When we hit our shots, it gets us going,” said G-NG guard Jen Farynaz. “We didn’t talk in the first and second periods. In the third period, we started talking a little more. Then in the fourth period, we started talking a lot more. That’s what gets us going.”
Farynaz led the G-NG comeback with seven points during the 11-0 run. She finished with a game-high 19 and had 13 of G-NG’s final 17.
“We (had control) right up into the fourth quarter,” said Poland coach Barry Hackett. “Then I think their top player stepped up. We let her get open, and she hit some big shots. In the last quarter, we couldn’t stop her.”
Ana Danieli added 10 points for the unbeaten Patriots (5-0) while Jen Dionne led Poland (1-4) with nine.
Danielle Belanger chipped in eight for the Knights.
Poland’s aggressive defense and some sloppy play got G-NG off track in the third quarter. A pair of Dionne baskets and a free throw from Paige Piper made it 26-22. With one minute left in the third, a Cortney Clark basket produced the five-point lead.
“We didn’t take very good care of the ball,” said G-NG coach Harvey Moynihan, who was missing center Oliva Ryan with an injury. “To be honest, I think they were a little nervous with Olivia out. She sprained her ankle and might be out for two weeks. She’s the girl in the middle for us.”
Chelsea Durgin filled in but got into foul trouble. The Patriots also struggled to get shots to fall. Once Poland got the five-point lead, that all changed. Brittany Humphrey’s hustle on defense helped spark the Patriots late in the quarter.
“The halfcourt trap bothered them,” said Moynihan. “The momentum switched when we went to the halfcourt trap.”
Farynaz hit a 3 with 45 seconds left in the third. Humphrey fed Danieli for a hoop with 15 seconds left to tie it.
To start the fourth, Humphrey stole the ball, setting up a jumper by Farynaz. Then back-to-back drives by Steph Googins and Farynaz built a 36-30 lead as G-NG hit four of its first five shots. Poland, meanwhile, went over three minutes without a field goal.
“We all just got our heads into it and started to get fired up,” said Farynaz. “Sometimes we lose our momentum, and then we pick it back up. The other night we were down like that, and we picked ourselves right back up and started going again.”
Poland got within 36-32 with 4:56 left on a Kathryn Hall jumper, but a pair of 3’s by Farynaz padded the lead.
“They just picked up the defense a little bit,” said Hackett. “It forced us to make a few turnovers, which is something we’ve been bothered with.”
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