PORTLAND – There’s no way to sugarcoat Gray-New Gloucester’s Class B quarterfinal against top-seeded York on Tuesday night.
It was ugly from the get-go.
The No. 9 Patriots didn’t score a field goal in the first quarter, getting just two points on free throws from Rachel Edson, one a minute into the game and the second with 23.5 seconds to go in the quarter.
But while their shots weren’t falling, the Patriots kept spreading the floor, passing the ball around the perimeter with an eye on limiting York’s scoring opportunities. For the first quarter, the strategy seemed to work, as the score was a manageable 10-2 after one.
“I thought we got what we wanted, unfortunately we weren’t able to take advantage of it,” said Gray-New Gloucester Coach Chris Aube regarding the Patriots’ strategy. “That might have changed things a little bit. But that’s why they’re so good. We didn’t capitalize and it seemed they came right down and got layups.”
But the bottom fell out in the second, as York exploded for 19 points while limiting the Patriots to just a 3 from Alicia Valente and an Edson free throw.
Down 29-6 at the half, Aube was realistic with his team. “We were well aware of what we were going up against,” he said. “What I told the kids, especially the seniors, and I didn’t sugarcoat it, was ‘the likelihood of us coming back and winning this game is slim to none, how does this group want to be remembered? We’ve worked hard all year let’s not go out with a lackluster effort’.”
And despite the final score, Aube said he did think the Patriots did show a good effort in the second half, getting points from Maggie Chaplin, Michele Dehetre, Meghan Dehetre and Grace Ferguson.
Aube said he was looking forward to next season, as the Patriots will be able to put an experienced team on the floor, losing only three seniors from this year’s squad.
But Aube said the shoes of seniors Meghan Dehetre, Edson and Valente would be hard to fill. “(They’re) great kids, the best leaders we had in my four years here,” he said. “We’re certainly going to miss them.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
