— By

Staff Writer

PORTLAND — Coach Bill Goodman’s simple instructions to his Greely High girls’ basketball team at halftime? Just go out and play.

And the Rangers did.

Scoring from all over, third-seeded Greely used a huge third quarter Thursday to come away with a 59-38 victory against second-ranked Leavitt in the Western Class B semifinals at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Greely (18-2) advanced to its second straight regional final and will take on top-ranked and undefeated York at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Civic Center.

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The Rangers held a 22-20 halftime lead, but it should have been more. They missed several layups.

”I have a good team,” said Greely Coach Bill Goodman. ”It was a matter of playing up to our ability. We can run the floor, play half court or shoot the 3-pointer. The first half wasn’t the type of game we wanted to play. We played really bad for us.”

Leavitt (18-2) outhustled the Rangers for most of the first half, which it had to do to have a chance against a taller team. The Hornets were winning battles for loose balls. That all changed in the second half as Greely took control.

The Rangers went on a 27-8 run in the third quarter to put the game away.

Nicole Faietta opened the third with back-to-back 3-pointers. Caroline Hamilton followed with a three-point play. Leavitt’s only basket during that stretch was by Kristen Anderson.

Leavitt, a 3-point shooting team, made only one; the Rangers hit eight.

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”We’re really a good 3-point shooting team,” said Abby Young, Greely’s 6-foot center. ”We had a game with Lake Region in the regular season where both teams combined for 15 3-pointers.”

Young had two 3-pointers in the second quarter to help the Rangers start to take control.

So was it anything specific Goodman told his team at halftime? Have fun? Shoot the 3-pointer? Go to the basket more?

”I guess all of the above,” said Young. ”We just missed too many layups in the first half.”

Faietta scored 12 of her team-high 15 points in the second half.

”Faietta had one awesome second half,” said Goodman.

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After Hamilton converted a three-point play to make it 31-22 early in the third, Adrianna Newton scored for Leavitt. Megan Grondin followed with another three-point play to make it 34-24. Moments later, Karlee Biskup hit the Rangers’ third 3-pointer of the quarter to give her team a 14-point lead.

Grondin scored all of Greely’s points in the first quarter, which ended with the Rangers trailing, 11-8. Greely opened the second quarter with 3-pointers by Faietta and Hamilton to take a 14-11 lead.

Leavitt led for the last time later in the quarter. Young’s 3-pointer from the side broke a 19-19 tie and Greely never trailed again.

Young and Grondin finished with 13 points apiece.

Courtney Anderson led Leavitt with 16 points.

 

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at:

tchard@pressherald.com

 


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