Joel Rogers did not hide his discomfort about his Greely girls’ basketball team playing defending state champion Lake Region in the Western Class B quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon.

“This was the one I was most afraid of,” he said, noting that the Lakers’ personnel, style and talent have often caused problems for Greely.

And then there was this: Lake Region had eliminated Greely each of the previous three years – once in the regional final, the last two years in the semifinals.

So there was a little more than relief Tuesday when third-seeded Greely finally put away the sixth-seeded Lakers, winning 45-31 at the Portland Expo. Greely took control with a 13-0 run to end the second quarter and never let the Lakers’ offense get into any kind of rhythm.

“It feels great,” said Greely senior guard Haley Felkel. “It feels good to finally win. Been a long time coming.”

Greely (17-2) will play No. 2 Gray-New Gloucester at 3 p.m. Thursday at Cross Insurance Arena. Lake Region, which won the last three regional titles, finished 11-8.

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The Lakers, playing a deliberate offense against Greely’s ever-extending zone, hung tough for a quarter. But after Chandler True hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to tie the game at 10 just 28 seconds into the second quarter, Lake Region did not score again until 6:45 remained in the third.

Greely closed the first half with a 13-0 run, sparked by sophomore guard Isabel Porter, who scored nine points, including back-to-back 3-pointers from the left corner that pushed the lead to 18-10

“She got us going (in the second), but I took her out because she works so hard on defense,” said Rogers. “Then, all of a sudden, I looked to my left (on the bench) and thought she was fresh, so I put her back in.”

Porter responded with a three-point play that made it 21-10. Moira Train finished the run with two foul shots.

At the heart of Greely’s surge was its 2-3 zone defense, which kept pushing the Lakers’ shooters farther and farther out.

Lake Region was just 1 for 13 from 3-point range in the first half, most from beyond the pro stripe. The Lakers were 2 for 10 in the second half.

“We knew that a big key for us is that we would have to shoot the basketball well,” said Lake Region Coach Paul True. “And we certainly didn’t do that with consistency.”

Ashley Storey led Greely with 19 points, and Porter finished with 11. Kristin Huntress led Lake Region with 10.

 


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