PORTLAND—G-NG’s Nick Pelletier drained a three early in the second quarter to overtake Spruce Mountain and kick off something of a runaway victory at the Expo on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 17. Zack Pomerleau added 16 and Hunter Colby 15 for G-NG as they downed the Phoenix 45-34 in the tournament quarterfinal and set their sights on the Cross Insurance Arena and the next round.

“It was good half-court battle,” G-NG head coach Ryan Deschenes said. “It’s a big court; we thought we could run it a little bit, but the court’s just too big too big.”

“They started off with a lot of energy – which, I knew they would,” Deschenes said of the Phoenix. “And they extended their matchup zone, trying to stay connected to our shooters.”

“We prepared well,” Pomerleau said of the Patriots’ practice efforts leading up to the bout. “We ran their offense – we have our bench players, every player, take a specific player on their team, so we know their matchups and know what they do. Everyone is just as important on this team; it’s not just one player.”

The early going saw missed shots at both ends of the court; Phoenix Jack Bryant finally broke the deadlock with a three. Heavy inside defense by the Patriots – G-NG played superb defense all game – forced Spruce Mountain to kick the ball out to Bryant, so while his bucket looked flashy, the moment actually boded ill for Spruce Mountain.

The Phoenix picked up the next two points as well – Brandon Frey did the honors – but the Patriots still appeared to be outplaying them: G-NG were pulling down more rebounds, especially on defense, and Spruce were committing more infractions. At this rate, all the Patriots needed was patience.

“We knew they were going to come out with a good start,” Pomerleau said. “And, yeah, they won the first quarter, but we just needed to regroup. We knew we were going to have to battle this game out, and that’s what we did. We played defense and rebounded and that was the biggest part.”

“Defensively, the guys were locked-in on what they needed to do to take [Spruce’s] actions away,” Deschenes said.

G-NG’s first points came when Pomerleau somehow swatted in what should’ve been an offensive rebound. 5-2. The Phoenix responded, but then the Patriots really started to warm up a bit: Colby hit an inside two and Pomerleau knocked down a three to bring G-NG within two at 9-7. Still, the team’s ball-handling looked a little sloppy, and they would need another couple minutes to settle in.

That happened when Pelletier hit his fateful three in the early second. After that, the Patriots broke into an 11-1 run: Colby and Pomerleau propelled the explosion, and John Martin capped it with a three to end the half. 21-10 at the break.

“The biggest thing we’ve talked about all week, we’ve gotta defend, we’ve got to make them shoot over us,” Deschenes said. “Keep them out of the paint, make them shoot tough shots all night, keep them off the boards and take care of the ball. Defend, rebound and take care of the ball. The first two parts, we did fantastic; the third part, we had our stretches where we’ve gotta get better in the next three days.”

G-NG outpaced Spruce at the start of the third as well: A Pomerleau d-reb led to a Colby two; Pomerleau hit a two of his own; Matt Johnson, Colby again and Pelletier from the line pushed the Patriots out front 31-15.

“We were trying to get the ball inside,” Deschenes said. “We struggled for a stretch and then once, second quarter, we got the ball inside, that kind of gave us a lift, and then defensively we were really locked-in, that quarter, and that’s kind of where we got a nice advantage.”

“We team-rebound,” Pomerleau said. “We’re not just going to let it up to our bigs to rebound. We’re a tall, athletic, long team, so we know everybody’s got to put a body on and get in there. I think we held them to a couple offensive rebounds and that’s it. That’s it: Hold them to one shot and then get a score on the other end.”

The coast looked clear. If G-NG could avoid completely imploding – and, as a veteran lineup, they were unlikely to implode – they would emerge triumphant. And that’s exactly what they did. Following a Spruce timeout, Pomerleau added back-to-back threes to really juice up his squad (not to mention their riotous fan contingent); soon enough, Nick Kariotis, Colby, Pelletier, Ryan Lachance and Johnson combined to polish things up. 45-34 the final.

Deschenes remarked on Pomerleau and Colby’s efforts. “As I’ve said all year, what’s the difference between this team is, we’ve got multiple facets that know how to score. Pomerleau can take guys off the dribble, he can hit shots, and obviously Colby, one-on-one, is the toughest there is in our class.”

Spruce knew enough to clamp down hard on Martin – G-NG’s top scorer and among the best players around – but clearly the Phoenix couldn’t stanch the bleeding everywhere on the court. “The took John away, but our second and third leading scorers stepped up,” Deschenes said. “That was awesome; we needed that.”

“We’re a pretty veteran-led team,” Pomerleau. “So every time we come together and huddle, we have everyone talking. That’s pretty much the biggest part of this: We’re all one group. We don’t care who scores and who takes the shots.”

The contest was a rematch of last year’s quarters. (Back then, G-NG was the underdog, if only by a hair.) “They’re better this year,” Deschenes said of the Phoenix. “They’re more balanced, and defensively they were tougher. I knew it was going to be harder to score against them – and it showed, for a while, until we got the ball inside-out a little bit more effectively.”

“A little more crisper ball movement, a little more crisper passing and catching passes,” Deschenes said, asked what he wanted to see his boys clean up before their next outing.

To be fair, the Patriots often tried for clever, unpredictable passes – exactly the sort of passes that can throw a defense off. That is: The team had the right idea, much of the time, they just couldn’t always thread the needle, and sometimes even a passer’s intended receiver was caught off-guard.

G-NG moved to 13-6 on the victory. The Patriots, the tourney four-seed, will face No. 8 Wells in the semifinals on Thursday night, Feb. 21. The Warriors upended No. 1 Mountain Valley to earn their shot at G-NG. The Patriots bested Wells 60-56 in the regular season.

Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CurrentSportsME.

Nick Pelletier works the corner for G-NG on the attack.

Hunter Colby shuffles along the baseline, looking to get underneath.

Ryan Lachance springs into a layup attempt.

Zack Pomerleau takes to the air, en route to the basket for G-NG.

Matt Johnson tries for two.

John Martin drives forward for the Patriots.

Nick Kariotis busts between a pair of Spruce opponents.

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