AUBURN — The Gray-New Gloucester boys took a quarter-and-a-half to turn their intensity on. And turn it on they did, outscoring the St. Dom’s 17-3 in the second quarter and cruising to a 57-28 victory in WMC basketball action Thursday.
The Patriots used their size and quickness to their advantage. A stifling press showcased their speed, and they outrebounded the Saints, 29-14.
St. Dom’s (0-4) came out in the opening quarter with patience on offense, passing the ball successfully through the Gray-New Gloucester press and managing a pair of 3-pointers while holding the Patriots (3-2) to 12 points. After one period, the Saints trailed by only five points.
A 10-0 Gray-New Gloucester run to open the second quarter, capped by a pair of buckets behind the arc by sophomore guard John Martin pushed the lead to 22-7. The Patriots finished the half with a 29-10 lead.
Gray-New Gloucester used a press defense to start the second half, and forced five turnovers to create a 10-0 run, building a 39-10 lead less than halfway through the third period.
“We picked up our intensity coming out in the second half. We started slow, but came out in the half and created some turnovers and were able to get a good cushion in the third quarter,” Gray-New Gloucester coach Ryan Deschenes said.
The Patriots defense forced 18 St. Dom’s turnovers in all.
Offensively, they were able to shake off some early cobwebs and get back to their game plan.
“We typically are an inside-out team and got away from that for a bit,” Deschenes said. “Once we started taking what we were able to get underneath, everything else seemed to work out.”
In all, the Patriots sank seven 3-point shots, including three from Martin, who finished with a game-high 14 points in the balanced attack. John Henry Villanueva poured in nine points, while sophomores Ryan Lachance and Hunter Colby chipped in with eight points apiece. Lachance also grabbed nine rebounds.
St. Dom’s spread the scoring among five players, led by senior guard Sam Rines and Drew Greco, each scoring eight points apiece. Ethan Bosse chipped in with seven points. Senior Camden Jalbert had three points while grabbing four rebounds.
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