PORTLAND — Greely held a double-digit lead in the third quarter, but in a game of runs the Rangers’ cushion evaporated quickly against Gray-New Gloucester.
The fourth-seeded Patriots battled back and forced overtime, but Brooke Obar and the Rangers controlled the extra session and pulled off a 54-49 victory in Wednesday’s Class A South girls basketball semifinal at the Portland Expo.
No. 1 Greely (19-1) will face No. 3 Marshwood (17-3) in the regional final Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Obar scored five of her 16 points in overtime and had a crucial block of a corner 3-point shot by Gray-New Gloucester’s Eliza Hotham that helped seal the win for the Rangers.
“Brooke had a big rebound, and I know she had a 3,” Greely coach Todd Flaherty said. “She had that block, and she’s just our floor general and she’s the kind of player you expect things from and she made plays down the stretch.”
Gray-New Gloucester (13-7) found itself trailing 34-20 with 6:30 left in the third quarter but quickly went on a 9-0 run to get back into the game. After an eight-point first half, Jordan Grant scored 10 for the Patriots in the third. She finished with a game-high 22 points.
“At halftime I told them that this could be our last time playing basketball, and this is not the way you want to go out,” Gray-New Gloucester coach Mike Andreasen said. “We used the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid analogy, where they’re surrounded at the end of the movie and they have their guns and they just go out shooting. That’s basically what we did: ‘Just go shoot.’”
Hotham and Abby Michaud each hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second half to help the Patriots catch up with the two-time defending Class A state champion Rangers.
“I would say that down like that at halftime to that team, it shocked me,” Andreasen said. “I was surprised. When you’re able to come all the way back … that shows that these kids have been through four years, two state championships, and they’ve seen it all.
“This may have been, despite the state championships, their proudest moment.”
The Patriots outscored the Rangers 12-3 in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 47-47 with 3:40 to go. Greely hasn’t been in many situations like that this season, so Flaherty tried to settle the team down during a timeout with less than a minute remaining.
“Our chins were down a little bit, we haven’t been in that position a lot,” Flaherty said. “They came back with a press we hadn’t seen a lot, so I just told them to keep their chin up and make a play, and a couple of them did.”
In overtime, Sam Fortin scored the only bucket for the Patriots as Obar took over for Greely, finishing the extra period off with the game-sealing block.
“I saw the pass was going over and (Hotham) had hit a couple big shots tonight, and congrats to her,” Obar said. “We were kind of sagging off a little bit and made her prove it, and she proved it so kudos to her. When she had that ball, I said, ‘This is not the end of my season,’ and I got the block.”
The Patriots loss marks the end for a decorated senior class. Gray-NG won the Class B title in 2017 and in 2019 before moving up to Class A this season. (Greely also recently won the Class B state title, in 2015.)
“They were part of both state championships,” Andreasen said. “Moving up in classification this year was hard, but we were one shot away from advancing. Kids stepped up to the challenge, and those six seniors, the starting five and Emma Begin off the bench, those kids have led the whole program.”
Greely’s Camille Clement scored 10 of her 14 points in the third to help fend off the Patriots.
Michaud contributed 11 points on the night for the Patriots. Hotham finished with eight.
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