Greely’s Matt McDevitt said after a pair of overtime games during the regular season that those tight contests were good preparation for playoff basketball.
Perhaps they were.
The top-seeded Rangers gave up an 11-point halftime lead Wednesday night against No. 4 York but didn’t panic, pulling out a 59-54 win in a Class A South semifinal at Cross Insurance Arena.
“When they got close, we started playing with our confidence again and got it back,” said McDevitt, who scored 16 points.
Top-seeded Greely (20-0) will face defending state champion Falmouth (15-5) in the regional final Saturday night. Falmouth, the No. 2 seed, lost senior point guard Colin Coyne to a broken leg in a 43-38 semifinal win Wednesday against Cape Elizabeth.
Greely has beaten Falmouth twice this season – 55-54 in overtime at Falmouth, and 61-44 at home in the regular-season finale.
No. 4 York (12-8) lost twice to Greely in the regular season, by 26 and 19 points. But behind the 3-point shooting of Reid Hogan (25 points, six 3s), the Wildcats came back from a 37-24 hole early in the third quarter and took a 41-40 lead on a scoop shot by Payton Small with 6:48 to play.
McDevitt answered with a 3-pointer and Greely never trailed again, though York twice missed free throws that would have tied the game.
“They were a different team this time. They came to play,” McDevitt said.
York was victimized by at least eight offensive foul calls. The last, with Greely leading 54-48, caused Hogan to foul out with 49 seconds remaining and brought York Coach Randy Small to his knees.
“We didn’t do anything wrong tonight,” Small said. “Everything we started on Saturday morning, from film work to preparation to game planning to execution, they did it to perfection tonight. Some things happened that were just out of our control.”
After McDevitt’s 3, Greely got key hoops from Ryan Twitchell (14 points) and Shane DeWolfe. York answered with two bullish inside baskets by Jackson McCarty.
Jordan Bagshaw (15 points) made a steal near midcourt and turned it into a three-point play with 3:41 left to put Greely ahead 50-46.
On the next possession, York ran its offense precisely for nearly a minute, but Greely continually cut off the lanes and covered shooters. With Hogan bottled up (one point in the fourth quarter), a shot in the paint by Trevor LaBonte (14 points) was blocked by McDevitt.
“I really think our defense stepped up in the second half, especially on Hogan,” Bagshaw said.
Greely led by at least four the rest of the way.
“Obviously those overtime games and close games are character builders, and they helped us down the stretch,” said Greely Coach Travis Seaver.
Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:
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