Class B South girls’ quarterfinal: Gray-New Gloucester skies over Freeport

PORTLAND — No superstars, no problem.

Skye Conley and Grace Kariotis played like stars, combining for 34 points, and seven other players made baskets for Gray-New Gloucester in a 56-30 Class B South girls’ basketball quarterfinal victory over Freeport at the Portland Expo on Tuesday.

The second-ranked Patriots (15-4) started the game on an 8-0 run, and except for a 6-0 run by the seventh-seeded Falcons (9-10), they never looked back.

Conley made a turnaround layup with three seconds left in the first quarter to put Gray-NG up 14-10. Conley and Kariotis outscored the Falcons by themselves, adding together six and five points, respectively.

“A lot of times we don’t get both,” Gray-NG coach Mike Andreasen said of the duo scoring together. “We either get the inside game or the outside game, but not both at the same time.”

Jess Wall kept it close for Freeport, scoring six of her team-high eight points in the first quarter. Then she was forced to sit with two fouls in the second quarter, and the Patriots’ defense took over.

“Our second quarter, what we did was we went to straight man-to-man,” Andreasen said.

A zone worked against Freeport during the regular season, but Andreasen quickly made the switch to the man defense. That lockdown effort held the Falcons to three points in the second quarter. By halftime the Patriots were doubling up Freeport 26-13.

“I don’t think offensively we were matching shots,” Freeport coach Mike Hart said. “We just weren’t very productive on the offensive side of the ball at all.”

Five different Gray-NG players each made one basket in the second, making sure the Falcons couldn’t just key on Conley and Kariotis.

“Whenever we all contribute as a team, it definitely helps each person out individually,” Conley said.

Freeport tried out a full-court press in the third quarter, but the Patriots were able to find open runners over the top for easy baskets.

“We got some easy looks,” Andreasen said. “We felt their press might be exposed over the top, and we were able to knock some balls over the top of their zone.

“When we run, and we get the ball in transition, we’re in really good shape.”

The Falcons tried to get Wall on the floor to help stop the bleeding, but fouls followed her as soon as she re-entered. She fouled out early in the fourth quarter.

“Not being able to put her on the floor hurt,” Hart said. “She’s had foul trouble throughout the year.”

The Falcons began to make some shots in the fourth, but the Patriots kept making their own. Six different players scored to help Gray-NG close out another win at the Expo.

“We’re unbelievably consistent,” Andreasen said. “I think we’re hard to match up with because if people take one person away, we got a bunch of people we think that can get the job done for us.”

“No superstars. But four or five, six, seven good kids.”

Conley said the bright lights of the Expo have seemed to dim for her in her three years on the team, making it feel like just another basketball game.

Now the Patriots move on to the the semifinal round against No. 3 Lake Region at the Cross Insurance Arena.

“We just need to play our game,” Conley said.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com