PORTLAND — The Greely girls basketball team feels like an underdog and that it has nothing to lose.
And the Rangers keep on winning.
Greely (16-4), which started the season 2-2, completed its impressive run through the Class A South tournament by doing just enough at both ends of the floor to defeat top-seeded Brunswick, 38-35, in the regional championship game Saturday at the Portland Expo.
“We’re a completely different team now,” said Rangers senior standout Chelsea Graiver, who scored 19 points and was named the regional tournament MVP. “We’ve battled all year and it just continued into the playoffs.”
The Rangers advance to the state championship game next Saturday at Cross Insurance Arena against undefeated Skowhegan, which captured the North title with a 44-30 victory over Lawrence. Greely won state titles in 2018 and 2019.
The second-seeded Rangers led most of the way before Brunswick scored eight straight points in the fourth quarter. But with the season on the line, Greely got a go-ahead basket from senior Kaiyla Delisle, made four free throws down the stretch and got a steal from sophomore Asja Kelman to clinch the victory.
“Getting here was a wild dream, it really was,” said Greely Coach Todd Flaherty. “I can’t believe the way these girls hung in there and played tough.”
The first half was an offensive slog for both teams. Greely opened up a 9-5 lead after one quarter, as Graiver had seven points and assisted on the other basket.
Brunswick (18-3) responded and took a 12-11 lead on a free throw from Kelsey Sullivan, but the Rangers got a 3-pointer from freshman Grier Wright and a pair of Graiver foul shots to take a four-point advantage into the second half.
The Dragons started the third quarter on a 6-0 run and went ahead on a layup from Lexi Morin, but again Greely answered. a put-back from Kelman and a 3-pointer from Sophia Ippolito sparked a 9-3 run.
The Rangers were up 26-23 at the start of the fourth quarter and increased their lead to eight on a Graiver runner with 4:01 left. Then Brunswick got a 3-pointer from Morgan Foster, a bank shot from Sophia Morin and a 3 from Logan Brown to draw even at 32-32 with 2:43 to play.
But Greely didn’t buckle. Delisle made a short jumper 22 seconds later to put her team in front to stay.
“I think a big thing for us is trusting each other,” said Delisle. “I saw the ball there and I just shot it.”
The Dragons got nine points apiece from Brown and Lexi Morin, but made only 10 of 45 shots.
“We got looks, but we couldn’t make them,” said Brunswick Coach Sam Farrell. “We still had a chance down the stretch.
“There wasn’t a day that went by this year that I didn’t want to come to practice. That tells you everything about these kids.”
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