CUMBERLAND — It wasn’t how many points Haley Felkel of Greely scored that made the difference Friday night. It was when and how she scored them.
Felkel opened the third quarter with the hardest-earned bucket of the night – on a fourth consecutive putback attempt – to spark Greely to a 52-30 win over Lake Region in a Western Maine Conference girls’ basketball game at Greely High.
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“I was like, ‘Really? Come on,’ ” Felkel said. “I just kept pushing the ball to the hoop, trying to draw a foul, put it in, something. Finally it went.”
And it energized her teammates.
“That was huge,” said Ashley Storey. “Haley just doesn’t give up. She brings so much energy and physical play to our game. We love having her on the court.”
Plays like that complemented the strong defending of the Rangers (11-2), who have won four straight and held an opponent to fewer than 35 points for the 11th time this season.
“They’re long and very athletic, and you’re obviously not going to get many second-chance opportunities,” Lake Region Coach Paul True said. “They did a great job defending on the perimeter and allowed (Storey) to protect the basket.”
Storey finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block. Isabel Porter, Haley Felkel (nine rebounds) and Sarah Felkel each added six points.
The Rangers also got strong efforts from Molly Chapin, Maddie Cyr, Moira Train and Kristina Smith. Greely repeatedly stepped out on Lake Region’s outside shooters, preventing them from getting off a shot.
“This is the happiest I’ve been in a long time,” Greely Coach Joel Rogers said. “We only had two points in the first quarter, but to put in 50 in the remaining three makes me really happy with what we did.”
Sarah Hancock led the Lakers (7-6) with 11 points, including seven of their 10 third-quarter points.
CeCe Hancock’s baseline drive on the Lakers’ opening possession and Sarah Hancock’s 3-pointer gave Lake Region a 5-0 lead, forcing a Greely timeout.
Haley Felkel took a nice feed from Chapin and scored on a baseline drive for Greely’s first points. That sparked an 18-3 run bridging the first and second quarters that built an 18-10 lead at the half.
“Obviously we didn’t come out the best we could,” Felkel said. “But we started hitting shots, we found Ashley underneath and she finished for us, which is huge.”
CeCe Hancock’s 3-pointer in the opening moments of the third quarter cut it to 18-13, and the Lakers looked like they were back in the game. On the ensuing possession, the Rangers worked the ball in low to Felkel.
Greely led 35-20 after three quarters and outscored the Lakers 17-10 in the fourth.
“It was a rough start, but when we stick together and run through our offense, it definitely helps,” Chapin said. “Hopefully (this) will fuel us for the remaining games and into the postseason.”
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