The third-seeded Rangers shot the lights out from the 3-point line, especially in the first half, as they advanced to the Western B final with a 57-34 victory over No. 2 Gray-New Gloucester on Thursday. The Rangers will play Cape Elizabeth in the regional final.
Greely finished 9-for-15 from behind the arc, making five of its first seven in the first half. Moira Train knocked down five 3s, while teammate Isabel Porter drained three more. Haley Felkel hit the other.
“For some of these kids, it’s their first time on this floor and to play the way they did and shoot the threes the way they did with Moira and Isabel was pretty amazing for us,” Greely coach Joel Rogers said.
The Rangers (18-2) drained four 3s in the first quarter. Porter banked in a 30-footer at the buzzer as Greely built a 23-5 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Playing for the first time at Cross Insurance Arena — the regional quarterfinal was played at the Portland Expo — the Rangers were unsure of how they’d perform in a new environment.
“We were actually really nervous about shooting here because it’s different,” Porter said. “There’s nothing behind the backboard so we just decided to come out and shoot.”
Greely’s ability to knock down 3s took the Patriots (18-2) out of their originally game plan of double- and triple-teaming Ashley Storey when she got the ball on the block. In the first quarter, Storey was able to kick it back out to Porter and Train on the wing for open shots.
“It’s funny because we identified who their shooters were and the shooters we identified were shooters who made shots,” Gray-New Gloucester coach Mike Andreasen said. “Identifiying them is one thing, covering them is something different. We didn’t cover the way we would have liked to.”
With the Patriots no longer able to provide help on the block, Storey scored six of the team’s 11 points in the second quarter. The Rangers led 34-10 at the break.
“It starts with our defense,” Rogers said. “If we can get out and run, it opens up the court and what happens is we hit the threes and then they have to cover out and they leave Ashley one-on-one. Nobody can guard Ashley one-on-one.”
Storey finished with 12 points.
Greely’s defense limited the Patriots to five points in the first quarter, five in the second and six in the third. Gray-New Gloucester’s 34 points was the team’s lowest offensive production of the season.
The Rangers led by as many as 35 after Porter hit her final 3 of the night. She finished with 16 points.
“Once I made that first three I knew that my shot was on and I could make shots here just like I do in practice,” Porter said.
Train had a game-high 22 points, scoring Greely’s final 10 points.
Thursday’s contest was a drastic difference from the last time these two teams met. The Patriots got the upperhand on the Rangers in the season opener back on Dec. 5, 59-47. A lot has changed since then, Rogers said.
“My bench,” Rogers said. “Isabel Porter, Madison Cyr and Kristina Smith, we got deeper. But our defense just got better. We didn’t foul, we kept them off the foul line and that’s a big thing.”
The Patriots found their stroke a little bit too late. They scored 18 points in the fourth quarter, getting as close as 16.
Isabelle DeTroy led the Patriots with 11 points. Grace Kariotis had eight.
With four underclassmen in the starting lineup, Andreasen expects his team to be right back where they were this time next year.
“We’ll recover,” Andreasen said. “I start four sophomores. We got here, we didn’t perform the way we wanted to, but getting here is a big step for us and hopefully next year we’ll be able to make another run.”
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