Greely’s top-ranked girls’ basketball team kept its repeat title hopes alive Wednesday in a Class A South semifinal at Cross Insurance Arena, but fourth-seeded Kennebunk sure didn’t make it easy for the undefeated Rangers to extend their two-year winning streak to 36 games.

Greely led almost throughout, thanks to the individual brilliance and unselfishness of senior standout Anna DeWolfe, but Kennebunk drew within seven points in the second half before the Rangers pulled away for good in a 67-52 win.

DeWolfe nearly had a triple-double, scoring 21 points, dishing out 10 assists and producing seven steals as Greely improved to 20-0. The Rangers advanced to their fifth straight regional final – and third in a row against No. 2 Brunswick (19-1) – at 6 p.m. Saturday at Cross Insurance Arena.

Brunswick was the last team to defeat Greely, in December 2017, but the Rangers won a rematch in last year’s regional final after losing to the Dragons in the 2017 final.

Kennebunk got the first points of the game on a jump shot from Isabelle Okwuosa, but 15 of the next 17 went to Greely. DeWolfe twice set up Julia Martel for fast-break layups, then hit a 3-pointer, and Camille Clement added four points. A putback at the horn from Katie Fitzpatrick made it 21-8 after eight minutes.

“Since we had such a slow start against Fryeburg (in the quarterfinals), we really emphasized starting strong, getting fast-break layups and playing strong defense, and that’s what we did,” said DeWolfe.

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DeWolfe had three points, five assists, four steals and a blocked shot in the first quarter. She added seven points, four assists and two steals in the second quarter, but she wasn’t able to stay on the floor for all of it, as she picked up three fouls. Greely still maintained a 38-25 lead going into the halftime break.

Kennebunk then scored the first six points of the second half, on three layups from Okwuoza, to make things interesting. But after a timeout, Brooke Obar turned the tide with a jumper followed by a steal and feed to Clement for a layup. Kennebunk post standout Emily Archibald then was whistled for her fourth foul, and after DeWolfe registered her 10th assist, setting up Martel for a layup, Greely stretched its lead to 49-36 going into the fourth quarter.

Kennebunk pulled within nine points four times in the fourth, but the Rangers kept answering. A 3-pointer from DeWolfe with 4:32 to go essentially served as the dagger.

“(Kennebunk’s) well-coached,” said Greely Coach Todd Flaherty. “We’ve been a little rusty, and we shook that off and responded well. We had a drought there, but we responded. We can score in bunches.”

Clement and Obar each finished with 12 points, while Martel added 11 for the Rangers.

The Rams (13-7), in their first trip to the regional semifinals in two decades, got 17 points from Alaina Schatzabel and 12 each from Archibald and Okwuosa.

“We battled in the second quarter, and that made the third quarter relevant, and even the first couple minutes of the fourth we were in it,” said Kennebunk Coach Rob Sullivan. “It was our first time in this building in a long while. I’m proud of what the seniors did to get us here, and I’m excited for the younger kids to come back.”


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