Gray New-Gloucester’s Bri Jordan, center, leaps for a rebound during the first half of Tuesday’s tournament game at the Portland Expo. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
PORTLAND — Being the top seed isn’t always as easy as it sounds.
It certainly wasn’t for Gray-New Gloucester on Tuesday when it had its hands full in a 49-34 win over eighth-seed Spruce Mountain at the Portland Exposition Building.
“Winning the first one’s always the hardest,” Gray-NG coach Mike Andreasen said.
“Luckily, we dug down when we needed to,” he later added. “It probably wasn’t a pretty game to watch, but we won.”
Haley Turcotte and the Phoenix came ready to play. Turcotte was dialed in from 3-point range, and smaller Spruce Mountain held its own on the boards.
“We emphasized that all week,” Phoenix coach Zach Keene said. “We wanted to limit them to one shot as much as possible. We battled, we did a good job of that the entire first half, and it’s kind of what kept us in it.”
Turcotte’s fourth 3 of the game beat the halftime buzzer, sending the Phoenix into the break trailing 23-18.
“They were excited,” Keene said. “They were focused and they were talking to each other before I went (into the locker room) about, ‘We can do this. Keep battling.’ They were definitely excited.”
Gray-NG, meanwhile, was a little disappointed to only be up five points at the break.
“We just said, ‘We got to go play,’” Andreasen said. “And the first couple possessions of the second half, I think we got three good looks. The five points lead became (about) 11 right away.”
The Patriots scored the first four points of the second half, and opened the third quarter with an 11-2 run that made it 34-20.
Jordan Grant had four of those points, after Spruce’s defense held her to six hard-earned points in the first half.
“We lost focused on the game plan we had for Grant,” Keene said. “We just lost focus three or four possessions in a row on Grant, and she obviously makes you pay when you do that.”
Spruce Mountain was held to six third-quarter points, but chipped away at the lead, cutting it to single digits, 41-32, with Turcotte’s sixth 3-pointer and her foul shot a few possessions later.
The Phoenix only managed two more points, as the Patriots closed out the game, setting up a semifinal matchup with Lake Region for the third consecutive year.
Turcotte finished with a game-high 24 points.
“Haley Turcotte came out, and she was on fire,” Andreasen said. “We knew she could shoot. … She kept them in the game.
“And our offense wasn’t clicking so well, either.”
Junior Bri Jordan took over at times while Gray-NG’s offense was sputtering. She drained four 3-pointers herself, and finished with 22 points.
“I think we need certain people just to step up,” Jordan said. “It wasn’t my intention to do that. People need to knock down shots, and I just took open shots and I shot with confidence.”
Andreasen also said that Jordan crashed the boards after Spruce Mountain had, for the most part, controlled them in the first half.
“The big thing she did was the rebounding,” Andreasen said. “We thought in the first half, they were just more physical and more aggressive than us on the offensive glass, they were taking rebounds away from us. And Bri, I think, took that personally. I think Bri kind of went out and she got a bunch of rebounds to kind of elevate her game, because those Spruce Mountain kids, they were fighting and clawing for everything.”
The Phoenix made Grant work hard, but she still scored 14 points for the Patriots (15-4).
“Grant and Jordan are as good as they come, especially together,” Keene said.
Eliza Hotham added six and Alexa Thayer scored five for Gray-NG.
Fourth-seeded Lake Region advanced to the B South semifinal by defeating Oak Hill 52-28 on Tuesday.
The Patriots and Lakers split their two meetings this season. Gray-NG, on its way to region titles, has ousted Lake Region in the past two semifinals, but neither win was easy — the 2016 matchup went to overtime, and last year’s game went down to the final seconds.
“The last two years, it’s kind of been the toughest game,” Andreasen said.
Gray New-Gloucester’s Jordan Grant leaps over Spruce Mountain’s Calley Baker to grab a rebound during the first half of Tuesday’s tournament game at the Portland Expo. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Gray New-Gloucester’s Bri Jordan left, heads to the basket for two of her 22 points during Tuesday’s victory over Spruce Mountain during the second half of Tuesday’s tournament game at the Portland Expo. Defending on the play is Spruce Mountain’s Calley Baker. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Gray New-Gloucester’s Bri Jordan center, drives to the basket over Spruce Mountain’s Calley Baker, right and Morgan Dalton, left, for two of her 22 points during Tuesday’s victory over Spruce Mountain during the second half of Tuesday’s tournament game at the Portland Expo. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Gray New-Gloucester’s Samantha Fortin, left, takes a shot as Spruce Mountain’s Calley Baker defends her during Tuesday’s victory over Spruce Mountain during the second half of Tuesday’s tournament game at the Portland Expo. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Spruce Mountain girls basketball coach Zachary Keene shouts directions to his players during Tuesday’s game against Gray-New Gloucester during Tuesday’s game. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Gray-New Gloucester girls basketball coach Mike Andreasen looks up at the scoreboard as he heads to the locker room at halftime of Tuesday’s playoff game against Spruce Mountain at the Portland Expo. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
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