CUMBERLAND — It was billed as a showdown between two of the top girls’ basketball players in the Western Maine Conference: Gray-New Gloucester’s Maria Valente and Greely’s Ashley Storey.

Valente and Storey did get their points, but Valente got a little bit more help.

Valente and Grace Kariotis each scored 19 points as the Patriots opened the season with a 57-49 win in game between two of the expected top teams in Western Class B.

“Our conference is so good that just playing one of these teams on the road, any win you get is just great,” Gray-New Gloucester Coach Mike Andreasen said. “Getting a win against a team that many pick as the team to beat makes it even better.”

It was the third straight win for the Patriots over the Rangers.

“What was key about this game for us is we only play Greely once,” Andreasen said. “Greely is a great team, and from now we don’t have to worry about them.”

Gray-New Gloucester made 22 of 28 free throws and held a 38-26 rebounding edge.

“When you get into tight games, it comes down to foul shooting and rebounding,” Andreasen said.

“We all worked really hard and we really meshed well together,” Valente said. “When we’re down, we come back really hard. We just work really hard.”

The Rangers started the second quarter with an 8-0 run to move into a 16-11 lead, but Kariotis hit three consecutive 3-pointers to propel the Patriots into a 20-18 lead with 2:45 left in the half.

“They zoned us a little bit in the beginning, and we knew we had to take some outside shots,” Valente said.

Gray-New Gloucester finished the first half with a 10-0 run for a 30-22 advantage.

“We ended up forcing some shots, and because of the flow of the game it was difficult for us to get a run in,” Greely Coach Joel Rogers said. “(Gray-New Gloucester) also knocked down their foul shots.”

Storey, who is headed to the University of New Hampshire on a scholarship, was held to 16 points, with 11 of them coming during the fourth quarter after the Patriots opened up a 42-34 lead.

“We tried to limit her touches and hopefully make her miss now and then, and I think we did make her miss a few now and then,” Andreasen said. “She’s such a tough matchup that we basically threw two people at her.”

Zoe Adams, a senior forward who fouled out, and Skye Conley, a sophomore center who sank 6 of 8 free throws, took turns guarding Storey.

Greely never got closer than eight points in the second half.

“Tonight was our night,” Andreasen said. “I thought we played just a bit better than them, but next time it could be 12 points the other way.”