CUMBERLAND — Greely, the top-ranked team in Class A South, took control in the third quarter Wednesday and sent Gray-New Gloucester, the top-ranked team in Class B South, to its first loss of the season, 68-55.
Anna DeWolfe made two 3-pointers to ignite a 15-2 run that helped the Rangers (12-1) open an 11-point lead with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
DeWolfe, a sophomore guard who finished with 23 points, got plenty of help.
Brooke Obar, a freshman who starts at guard, scored 12 points. Moira Train, a senior forward, and Katie Fitzpatrick, a freshman forward who was the first player off the bench, each scored 11.
Grace Kariotis led the Patriots (12-1) with 17 points. Brianna Jordan followed with 12 and Jordan Grant, a freshman reserve, added 11.
Before Wednesday, Gray-New Gloucester, the defending regional Class B champion, hadn’t allowed more than 35 points in a game. Their average margin of victory was 24.4 points per game.
“We haven’t played a team like them,” Gray-New Gloucester Coach Mike Andreasen said. “I was OK with our half-court defense. It was our offense. They had some steals and we threw the ball away 17 times. We were giving them transition.”
The Patriots took a 9-2 lead less than four minutes into the game only to have the Rangers run off 11 points and move into a 15-13 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The score was tied or the lead changed seven times in the second quarter, which ended with Gray-New Gloucester clinging to a 31-30 advantage.
“You’ve got to go 100 percent all the time and you’ve got to play pretty close to perfect to beat them,” Andreasen said. “The first half we were pretty close to perfect. The second half we weren’t.”
The Patriots took the lead for the last time when Kariotis sank a 3-pointer to make it 36-34 with 6:50 left in the third quarter. The next six minutes belonged to the Rangers, who held a 49-38 lead with less than a minute left in the quarter.
“They were picking their dribbles up on occasion, and then we started getting into the passing lanes and started causing some problems,” Greely Coach Todd Flaherty said. “We got some steals and some transition baskets.”
“It’s a team effort (and) it all starts on defense,” DeWolfe said. “When we all pick up the energy, it all comes to us.”
DeWolfe capped her performance by setting up Fitzpatrick for a three-point play with a behind-the-back pass for the Rangers’ final points.
“I just saw Katie and I thought that was the only way to get the ball to her,” DeWolfe said. “Thankfully she caught it and made (the basket). That just brought a bit of energy to us.”
Despite the loss, Andreasen said it was good for his team to be involved in a close game.
“It was good to have a game where we were battling,” he said. “The loss doesn’t hurt us. In the Heal points it doesn’t really damage us. We played the best team I think we’ll see, plus the cherry on top is we don’t see (Greely) again.”
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