CUMBERLAND—Greely’s boys’ basketball team played its entire available roster Wednesday evening, but wasn’t able to stop the Gray-New Gloucester Express.

The visiting Patriots, who haven’t lost a game since Opening Night, came out sizzling, taking an early 20-9 lead before Rangers senior Jackson Leding kept his team in the game with 13 first quarter points to make it 28-19 Gray-New Gloucester after eight minutes.

Greely momentarily drew within three in the second period, but thanks to 12 points from senior Aidan Hebert and nine more from junior Johnny Patnaude, the Patriots held a 43-37 advantage at halftime.

Gray-New Gloucester then opened it up in the third quarter, as it shut down Leding and thanks to a putback from senior Mitchell Henrich, took a 59-47 lead to the final period.

There, the Rangers fought to the end, but never got closer than 10 as the Patriots closed out a 75-61 victory.

Patnaude and senior Nate Hebert led the way with 16 points apiece, Aidan Hebert added 14 and senior Noah Hebert finished with a dozen as Gray-New Gloucester won its 13th game in a row, improved to 13-1 and in the process, dropped Greely to 7-8.

“We had to match what (the Rangers) were going to bring,” said Aidan Hebert. “We knew it would be a packed crowd. We stayed together and brought as much positivity as we could.”

Showtime

Greely’s season has been up-and-down. After losing three out of four (50-40 at Westbrook, 76-42 at home to Gorham and 68-52 at Gray-New Gloucester, with a 55-47 home win over Freeport mixed in), the Rangers defeated Fryeburg Academy (57-40) and York (48-44), then lost three straight: at Falmouth (72-47), at Kennebunk (64-43) and at home to Mt. Ararat (47-44), before winning four in a row: 76-36 over visiting Massabesic, 60-51 at Cape Elizabeth, 54-51 over visiting Brunswick and 43-23 at Marshwood. Saturday, Greely lost at Yarmouth, 73-59.

Gray-New Gloucester is coming off its best campaign in nearly a half-century and hasn’t missed a beat this season under new coach Ian McCarthy. The Patriots lost their opener, 75-54, at two-time reigning Class A South champion Falmouth, but haven’t stumbled since, winning 12 in a row, by an average of 23 points, coming in.

“We’ve come a long way,” McCarthy said. “The opener is what we needed to figure out how we needed to play.”

Gray-New Gloucester had already beaten Greely once this year, on Dec. 19.

Wednesday, the Rangers hoped to snap a three-game skid in the series, but instead, the Patriots kept the good times rolling.

Greely was down junior Kade Ippolito, who was on the bench in street clothes, and classmate Andrew Padgett, who missed the game completely due to illness, and as a result, had to rely on several unfamiliar names, but they kept the Rangers in the game much of the way.

Greely opened the scoring 18 seconds in, when junior Luke O’Connor made a layup off a pass from senior Logan Vergara, but that lead lasted all of 25 seconds, as Patnaude hit a 3 to put Gray-New Gloucester ahead to stay. Patnaude then set up Aidan Hebert for his first points, a layup.

Leding began to heat up with a long jumper, but Noah Hebert sank a 3, then Nate Hebert drove for a layup and a 10-4 lead just over two minutes into the game.

After senior Carter Libby added a free throw, junior Owen Partridge converted a runner to cut the deficit to five, but Noah Hebert countered with a putback, then Aidan Hebert converted an old-fashioned three-point play (layup, foul, free throw) to produce a double-digit lead, 16-6, just over halfway through the opening stanza.

Hebert countered with his first 3, but Patnaude drove for a layup, then Aidan Hebert did the same to make it 20-9.

The Rangers tried to rally, as twice Leding got the ball in the corner and buried 3s, but Nate Hebert countered with a 3-ball.

After Leding hit a jumper, Aidan Hebert was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer and he converted all three subsequent free throws. Junior Ethan Michaud hit a late jumper for Greely, but at the horn, off an inbounds pass from Aidan Hebert, Libby made a layup for a 28-19 advantage.

Leding had 13 of the Rangers’ points, but Greely simply couldn’t slow the potent Patriots’ offense.

The Rangers scored the first six points of the second quarter, as Leding converted a three-point play, Partridge made two free throws, then O’Connor drained one, but Patnaude banked home a runner and Aidan Hebert hit two foul shots to stretch the lead back to seven, 32-25.

After Michaud hit a free throw, Patnaude drove and banked home a shot, then Noah Hebert scored on a fastbreak layup to make it a 10-point contest again, 36-26, with 3:54 to go before the break.

Freshman Rocky Axelsen got two points back at the line for the home team, but Heinrich scored on a putback.

After Partridge sank two foul shots, Leding buried another lone 3 to make it 38-33 with 2:02 to go, but senior Noah Schaeffer countered with a clutch 3 of his own.

Leding got a jumper to rattle in, then Axelsen sank two more free throws, but with 7 seconds to go, a layup from sophomore Isaiah Portas gave Gray-New Gloucester a 43-37 halftime lead.

Greely appeared within hailing distance, but the Patriots would open up a more comfortable lead by the end of the third period.

The second half began with a 3-pointer from Libby and a layup by Noah Hebert, after Aidan Hebert got an offensive rebound and set him up.

The Rangers tried to respond, as Michaud got an up-and-under shot to bank home and Vergara hit a pair of free throws, but once again, the visitors were up to the challenge, as Patnaude set up Nate Hebert for a 3 in transition to make it 51-41.

After Michaud got a jumper to rattle in, Nate Hebert answered with a leaner.

Junior Luca Cimino then made a layup for Greely, but Nate Hebert hit a jumper, then he sank two free throws before Heinrich’s putback gave Gray-New Gloucester its biggest lead yet, 59-45.

Cimino made a layup at the horn, but the Rangers had a 12-point deficit to make up when the fourth quarter began.

Vergara drove for a layup to start the final frame and after Patnaude scored on a floater, Michaud drove for a layup with 6:48 remaining to cut the deficit to 61-51, but that’s as close as Greely would get.

After Patnaude scored on a floater, Michaud hit a free throw, but Aidan Hebert set up Nate Hebert for a layup to push the lead to 13.

After Axelsen sank a pair of foul shots, Aidan Hebert scored on a putback and with 2:50 left, after an Aidan Hebert offensive rebound, he got the ball to Noah Hebert for a backbreaking 3 to make the score 70-54.

Partridge answered with a layup, but Patnaude buried another 3.

After Michaud scored on a layup, Libby did the same and while Leding made one final 3-pointer with 1:14 on the clock, it was far too little too late for the Rangers and the Patriots went on to a 75-61 victory.

“I’ve definitely seen a lot of growth as a program, as a culture,” Aidan Hebert said. “We’re really together. I’m grateful we have the team we have.”

Nate Hebert (four rebounds) and Patnaude (seven assists) led Gray-New Gloucester with 16 points apiece.

Aidan Hebert did a little of everything, scoring 14 points, adding 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals and shutting down Leding in the second half.

“We just kind of came out tired and didn’t see screens coming and lost (Leding) sometimes in the first half,” Hebert said. “We made sure to find him in the second half. I take a lot of pride in my defense. Our defense makes us energetic on offense.”

“Honestly (Leding) was killing us,” McCarthy said. “They were coming off screens and we weren’t communicating through them. He got freed up a bunch in the first half and lit us up. Aidan does everything. He’s our leader on the floor. He’s led us in rebounds every game but two. He’s our point guard and leads us in assists. He had a block that fired us up. We go as he goes.”

Noah Hebert finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and a pair of steals. Libby had eight points, Heinrich four (to go with six rebounds), Schaeffer three and Portas two.

“We have five games in seven days, so I tried to rotate some guys in and mix in some zone, but it didn’t work to plan,” said McCarthy. “The starters played more minutes tonight than I was hoping.”

The Patriots had a 40-25 edge on the glass, only turned the ball over 12 times and hit 9-of-10 free throws.

Greely got a game-high 24 points from Leding, but he only managed three after halftime. Leding also had four rebounds and three steals. Michaud added 12 points and there assists, Partridge had eight points (as well as three rebounds and two assists), Axelsen finished with six, Cimino and Vergara (six rebounds, three assists) both tallied four and O’Connor (four rebounds) contributed three.

The Rangers made 16-of-23 free throws and turned the ball over just 13 times, but they couldn’t get defensive stops frequently enough to prevail.

“We fought the good fight,” said Greely coach Travis Seaver. “Everyone saw the floor and they did what we asked of them. They’re tough. They come at you in waves. They shot well and got to the rim. It’s tough to keep pace with them. We gave up too much in the third quarter. It’s tough to come back on them because if you make one mistake, they’re drilling a 3. You put so much focus on Nate and they have other guys who can hit shots. Johnny hurt us tonight getting to the rim.”

The final stretch

Gray-New Gloucester (currently ranked second behind Falmouth in the Class A South Heal Points standings), welcomes Kennebunk Thursday, goes to Freeport Friday, has a key game at Noble Monday, then wraps up the regular season at Fryeburg Academy Tuesday of next week.

“We’re still grinding to get better,” Aidan Hebert said. “We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing. We’re on a roll, so we can’t let anything outside get in our heads. We’re looking forward to the tournament. The goal is to do well at the Expo.”

“These guys work very hard and stick together,” McCarthy said. “They have a tight bond. Our focus all year has been one game at a time and not looking ahead. We hope to have another chance at Falmouth. We’re a different team now, but we’re not looking ahead.”

Greely (sixth in Class A South) welcomes Noble in its home finale Friday, then closes with games next week at Biddeford and Wells.

“We want to finish strong,” Seaver said. “We’re doing much better than we were doing a couple weeks ago and we have to keep doing that.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. For game updates and links to game stories, follow him on Threads: @foresports2023

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