Gray-New Gloucester’s Isabelle DeTroy streaks to the basket for a layup during Thursday’s playoff victory over Lake Region. They will play Lincoln Academy in the regional championship game Saturday at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
PORTLAND — Nothing was simple in top-seeded Gray-New Gloucester’s 33-29 win over fifth-seed Lake Region in the Class B South girls’ basketball semifinals Thursday at Cross Insurance Arena.
But the explanation for why the Patriots were able to survive the Lakers was simple.
“We just happened to make a few more plays than them,” Gray-NG coach Mike Andreasen said. “That’s pretty much, simply, it.”
Patriots sophomore Bri Jordan went a bit rogue to make one of the biggest plays of the game. With Gray-NG leading 30-29 with 54 seconds remaining in the game, Jordan broke from the plan on an inbound pass, cutting toward the hoop rather than away from it, caught a pass over the top and scored an easy layup to give the Patriots a comfortable three-point cushion, 32-29.
“That was probably the play of the game,” Andreasen said.
Lake Region’s problem was that it defended the play too well.
“My coach said, ‘Go get it in the backcourt,’” Jordan said. “But then I saw one of their players, Kristen Huntress, was going to read me going to the backcourt, so I was like, I can’t go there, she’s going to pick me off. So then I just went (the other) way, hoping that nobody was going to be there, and just went up for it.”
Taking a three-point lead was huge for Gray-NG because of the low-scoring nature of the game. The Lakers’ offense was especially stunted in the fourth quarter, scoring only three points — a trey by Chandler True less than three minutes into the period.
“Our offense sure did not win that game,” Andreasen said.
“(The defense) was good. It was really good. We keep most everybody in the 20s, and today was no exception. I thought we did a good job limiting their 3-point opportunities.”
The Patriots found themselves in an unfamiliar situation: a close game in the fourth quarter. In fact, they entered the fourth trailing 26-25.
“It was kind of different for us, obviously,” Gray-NG’s Skye Conley said, “but just we knew that we needed to figure out what we were doing, keep attacking, trying to play our game as much as we could.
“Coach really helped us keep our heads back into it, really focus, and we were able to pull it out at the end.”
Conley led all scorers with 12 points. Jordan scored seven, and Izzy DeTroy and Alicia Dumont each contributed six.
Huntress paced Lake Region with seven points.
This is the second consecutive year the Patriots and Lakers have had a knock-down, drag-out battle in the B South semifinals. Last year, Gray-NG won 53-47 in overtime.
Andreasen wasn’t surprised Lake Region coach Paul True’s squad gave the top-seeded Patriots all they could handle once again.
“I’ve watched him the last couple of years in the playoffs. I’m a fan,” Andreasen said.
“I think you’ve got to have a better team than his to beat him. I’m not saying we were better today — that was almost an overtime game, last year was an overtime game.
“I thought we had better personnel than them — I look at his kids, I look at my kids, I think my kids are better. But, you know what? They know their strategies, they know what they’re supposed to do. They’re gamers, they hit big shots.
“I kind of equate Paul to Bill Belichick, they’re always prepared, and I feel like I’m Dan Quinn right now.”
Gray-NG advances to face Lincoln Academy in the B South final Saturday at 1 p.m. at Cross Insurance Arena.
The Patriots and Eagles met in the 2016 region final, Gray-NG winning 45-30 to reach the Class B state championship game.
Gray-New Gloucester seniors Isaac Godsoe, left, and Cameron Blais, second from left, and other fans celebrate as time runs out during their girls’ team’s playoff game against Lake Region in Portland Thursday afternoon. They will play Lincoln Academy in the regional championship game Saturday at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
Despite being mauled by Lake Region’s Kristen Huntress, left and Lauren Jakobs, Gray-New Gloucester’s Skye Conley powers her way to the basket during Thursday’s tournament game in Portland.
Lake Region’s Chandler True has the ball stripped away from her by Gray-New Gloucester’s Skye Conley during Thursday’s tournament game in Portland.
Lake Region’s Lauren Jakobs can only watch as Gray-New Gloucester’s Grace Kariotis streaks past and lays a shot off the glass for two points during the second half of Thursday’s tournament game in Portland.
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