Greely boys beat back Brunswick to reach semifinals

BOX SCORE

Greely 58 Brunswick 41

B- 7 10 5 19- 41
G- 13 11 17 17- 58

B- Harvey 6-3-16, Gerrish 3-0-6, McCaffrey 2-0-6, Driscoll 2-0-5, Cooper 1-0-2, Franklin 1-0-2, Lay 1-0-2, Manson 1-0-2

G- St. Hilaire 5-6-17, Walker 4-2-12, Coyne 4-1-9, Raftice 4-0-9, Cloutier 2-0-6, Gardner 1-1-3, Kouth 0-2-2

3-pointers:
B (4) McCaffrey 2, Driscoll, Harvey 1
G (6) Cloutier, Walker 2, Raftice, St, Hilaire 1

Turnovers:
B- 17
G- 13

FTs
B: 3-4
G: 12-19

PORTLAND—Coming out strong and getting easy looks at the basket was just the recipe for Greely’s boys’ basketball team to get off to an ideal start to the Class A South tournament Saturday evening at the Portland Exposition Building.

The second-ranked Rangers came out sizzling and built a quick 8-0 lead over No. 10 Brunswick behind five points from senior Andrew St. Hilaire and led, 13-7, after one quarter.

Greely had a chance to pull away in the second period, going up by as many as 11, but the Dragons hung tough and were only down by seven, 24-17, at the half.

But the Rangers began the second half as they did the first and a 6-0 run, capped by a layup from senior Timmy Walker, pushed the lead to 13. Late in the third quarter, senior rebounding machine Dee Martin Coyne began to take over and his layup helped Greely push the score to 41-22 entering the final period.

There, Brunswick never got closer than 15 and the Rangers cruised home to an impressive 58-41 victory.

St. Hilaire led all scorers with 17 points, Walker added 12 and Coyne just missed a double-double as Greely improved to 12-7, ended Brunswick’s season at 6-13 and advanced to take on No. 3 Marshwood (13-5) in the Class A South semifinals Wednesday at 6 p.m., at the Expo.

“The first tournament game’s always the hardest,” said Rangers coach Travis Seaver. “You think you know what to expect, but to actually execute is great. Defensively, we did exactly what we wanted to do and we made shots in the first quarter that helped us get comfortable.”

No heroics necessary

The teams met way back on Dec. 14 and the Rangers eked out a 62-61 win at Brunswick. That was part of a 4-0 start for Greely, which turned around and lost five straight before going 7-2 the second half of the regular season. The Rangers lost decisively at home to Falmouth, 79-47, on the season’s final Saturday, but have turned that setback into a positive.

“That game was good for us,” St. Hilaire said. “We know we can compete with (Falmouth). That was a good wakeup call and got us locked in. We feel a little bit disrespected that people are saying they have an easy ride to states.”

“That was a good opportunity for us to reset and really evaluate what we’re good at and what we’re not,” said Seaver. “No one likes to lose, but if you’re going to lose, you might as well learn a lesson from it.”

The Dragons lost eight games in a row at one stretch, but won their final two games of the regular season, then upset No. 7 Kennebunk, 66-58, in Tuesday’s preliminary round.

The teams met just once previously, when Brunswick upset Greely, 65-52, in the 2016 Class A South semifinals.

Saturday, the Dragons hoped history would repeat, but the Rangers had other ideas.

Greely senior Andrew St. Hilaire handles the ball as Brunswick’s Weston Cooper defends during the Rangers’ 58-41 victory in the Class A South quarterfinals Saturday night. Hoffer photos.

It took nearly two minutes for the scoring ice to be broken, but Walker did the honors with a 3-pointer and Greely never looked back.

St. Hilaire scored his first points on an old-fashioned three-point play (layup, foul, free throw), then St. Hilaire made a layup after a steal and in a flash, the Rangers were up, 8-0.

After Brunswick got on the board on a putback from Trevor Gerrish, Thomas Harvey, who would have a big night, added two free throws, then Harvey buried a 3 to cut the deficit to one, but St. Hilaire countered with a 3 and St. Hilaire set up junior Seamus Raftice for a layup and a 13-7 advantage after eight minutes.

Walker opened the second period with a 3-ball from the corner, but Harvey hit a jumper.

After senior Liam Gardner made a free throw for the Rangers, Raftice sank a 3 and it appeared Greely was poised to pull away, leading, 20-9.

But back came the Dragons, as Harvey hit a jumper, Ethan Driscoll drained a long 3 and Harvey scored on a putback to cut the deficit to four.

Greely responded and finished the half strong, however, as senior Max Cloutier drained a timely 3 and St. Hilaire added a free throw before a foul shot from Harvey made it 24-17 Rangers at the break.

In the first half, St. Hilaire had nine points for Greely, but a dozen points from Harvey kept Brunswick within hailing distance.

The Rangers then started the second half strong and by the end of the third quarter, had essentially salted the game away.

Greely senior Dee Martin Coyne looks to go up for a shot in the second half.

Coyne got things started, taking a pass from Walker and making a layup. St. Hilaire got into double figures by hitting a runner, then St. Hilaire fed Walker for a backdoor layup and a 30-17 advantage, forcing the Dragons to call timeout.

It helped initially, as Quin McCaffrey hit a 3-pointer, but Gardner set up Coyne for an easy layup and after Gerrish made a leaner to cut the deficit to 32-22, Greely closed the frame on a 9-0 run to end all doubt.

Gardner got it started by making a layup off a Walker pass. Then, in transition, Walker found Cloutier for a 3. After Walker set up Coyne for a layup, Walker banked home a close shot to make the score 41-22 heading to the fourth.

“A big focus for us is to get the ball where we want it to go and we got it in the right people’s hands tonight,” Seaver said. “The message at halftime was to win the next quarter and take it one quarter at a time.”

In the fourth, Greely put the wraps on its sixth consecutive quarterfinal round win.

St. Hilaire began the final stanza by setting up Raftice for a layup.

Harvey countered with a layup, but Coyne made a free throw and after Weston Cooper got a jumper to bounce in for Brunswick, St. Hilaire fed Raftice for a layup and a 46-26 lead with 6:24 on the clock.

Isaak Franklin countered with a putback, but St. Hilaire made two free throws.

After McCaffrey sank a 3 from the corner, Raftice fed St. Hilaire for yet another layup.

The Dragons got a jumper from Harvey and a layup from Gerrish to pull within 15, 50-35, but Walker made two foul shots, then Raftice fed Coyne for a layup.

Ethan Driscoll made a bank shot for Brunswick, but St. Hilaire hit two foul shots.

Down the stretch, Declan Lay made a jumper for the Dragons and after senior Matiang Kouth made two free throws for the Rangers’ final points, a jumper from Connor Manson accounted for the 58-41 final score.

“I’ve been wanting to play in this environment for a long time and I was ready,” Coyne said. “Coach got us ready for this game. He got us hyped up. We knew there was little room for error.”

“It’s exciting,” said St. Hilaire. “Not many of us have played here, so it’s good to get this first win out of the way. It’s a good feeling to finally play here and be part of something special. We had a really strong week of focused practice. We wanted to keep our focus up and play 32 minutes of good basketball. Our halftime speech was all about getting that knockout punch and putting the game away.”

St. Hilaire didn’t just have a game-high 17 points, he also had six assists. Walker finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Coyne wound up one point shy of a double-double, as he had nine points and 10 rebounds.

Usually, the tallest players are the top rebounders, but Coyne has proved you don’t need to tower well over six feet to clean the glass.

“Coach told me to get boards and score some points,” said Coyne. “From a young age, my Dad taught me how to rebound. Just because I’m not big doesn’t mean I can’t get rebounds. You just have to know what you have to do.”

“(Dee’s) as strong as ox and he uses his body well,” Seaver said. “He’s always in the right place. He’s not tall but he makes up for it.”

Raftice had nine points, three rebounds and three assists off the bench, Cloutier tallied six points, Gardner had three and Kouth two.

Greely enjoyed a 32-20 rebound advantage, made 12-of-19 free throws and overcame 13 turnovers.

Brunswick’s effort was paced by Harvey, who had 16 points and five rebounds. Gerrish (five rebounds) and McCaffrey each added six points, Driscoll had five and Cooper (five assists), Franklin (four rebounds), Lay and Manson all wound up with two.

The Dragons turned the ball over 17 times and made 3-of-4 free throws.

Back to the Expo

Greely and Marshwood didn’t play a countable game this year (they did meet in the preseason).

The Rangers have won four of five prior playoff meetings dating to 1982, with a 63-50 victory in the 2016 Class A South quarterfinals the most recent.

Greely’s looking forward to making a return trip to the Expo next week.

“I’m ready to go,” Coyne said. “I’m going to rip down all the rebounds and do what I can do.”

“We’re excited to play (Marshwood),” said St. Hilaire. “We’ll practice hard and get ready and do our best.”

“Marshwood’s tough and big and strong,” Seaver added. “They execute, get on the boards well and play good defense. I think it’s going to be a battle. We match up well. I like playing here. This whole atmosphere was really missed last year.”