PORTLAND—You can only hold the potent Noble boys’ basketball team at bay for so long.

The sixth-ranked Greely Rangers managed to hang tough with the third-seeded Knights for three quarters in a Class A South quarterfinal Saturday afternoon at the Portland Exposition Building, but the fourth period was something completely different.

The first quarter saw Greely junior Kade Ippolito and Noble junior Jamier Rose say anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better, as they one-upped each other over an eight minute span which ended with the Knights on top, 18-15.

The Rangers were within one late in the second quarter, but Noble scored the final six points to hold a 32-25 advantage at halftime.

The Knights then gradually opened it up in the third period, taking a 49-37 lead when junior Chase Dodier made a late layup after a steal.

Greely couldn’t counter from there and behind an epic performance from Rose, Noble pulled away and advanced, 76-50.

Rose had 24 points and 13 assists for a double-double as the Knights improved to 15-4, won a quarterfinal round game for the first time since 1985, advanced to take on seventh-ranked Westbrook (9-10) in the semifinals Wednesday at 6 p.m., at the Expo and in the process, ended the Rangers’ campaign at 9-10.

“You can’t win a tournament game giving up 76 points,” said Greely coach Travis Seaver. “The story of the second half of our season is that we could play with anyone, but could never seem to make up ground. One bad quarter and we can’t make it up.”

No thorn on this Rose

Noble, which went 0-18 just two years ago before improving to 7-12 last season, burst on to the scene this winter, as it moved down to Class A and posted 14 victories.

Greely, meanwhile, had an up-and-down campaign (see sidebar for story links), twice losing three games in a row and also enjoying a four-game win streak before closing with consecutive victories to even its record

On Feb. 2, the Knights came to Cumberland and beat the Rangers, 70-57. Rose went off for 26 points and junior Bryce Guitard added 20. Junior Ethan Michaud paced Greely with 15 points, while senior Jackson Leding and junior Owen Partridge each tallied 13.

Prior to Saturday, the teams had never met in the playoffs.

In front of a large crowd, the Rangers matched the Knights basket for basket early on.

A short jumper from Ippolito opened the scoring, but Noble countered on a jump shot from Guitard and a free throw from junior Ashton Mutagoma.

After Partridge banked home a shot, Rose scored his first points, on a 3, then he fed senior Isaiah Conary for another 3 and a 9-4 advantage.

Partridge stemmed the tide with a runner which rolled in, but Rose found junior Andrew Marzoli for a layup.

Greely then pulled even on a putback from Ippolito and a corner 3 from junior Brogan Raftice, set up by Ippolito.

Noble then ran off five straight points, as Rose found Dodier for a corner 3 and Rose made a layup after a steal, but back came the Rangers, as senior Logan Vergara drove for a bank shot, then Leding sank two free throws.

As time wound down, Rose set up Mutagoma for a layup and the Knights held an 18-15 advantage after eight minutes.

The back-and-forth continued in the second period.

Ippolito scored consecutive hoops to put Greely in front, but Rose set up Conary for a layup and Noble was in front for good. Guitard sank two free throws, then, after a steal, Rose found Mutagoma for a layup and a 24-19 lead.

A driving layup from Michaud snapped the run, but Guitard countered with a jumper to restore the five-point bulge.

Ippolito then returned to his scoring ways, banking home a contested shot before taking a pass from Leding and making a layup, but the final six points of the half went to Noble, as Mutagoma scored on a leaner, Guitard hit a jumper and a putback from Mutagoma made it 32-25 at the break.

“I felt like we’d have some jitters early, but we just wanted to keep playing at our pace,” said Noble coach John Morgan. “That’s what got us here and eventually, we’ll find it. We’re at our best when we play at our pace. We just had to keep playing. If we can find some structure in the chaos, that’s how the guys like to play. We have good athletes who want to get out and run. Jamier and Bryce are so dynamic with the ball. Either they get a good look, or three or four guys are staring at them and someone else gets a layup.”

Rose stuffed the stat sheet with five points, seven assists, six steals and four rebounds, while Mutagoma had nine points and Guitard added eight, but he picked up his third foul with just seconds remaining.

Ippolito paced the Rangers with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Noble then got a little breathing room in the third period.

Ippolito started the second half with a putback, but Dodier countered with a 3 after taking a long pass from Rose from the opposite side of the floor. After Marzoli and Ippolito traded free throws, Rose set up Marzoli for a layup.

Partridge countered with a bank shot, but Rose drove and banked home a shot, then with 3:53 to go, he drove again and made a layup for a 42-30 advantage, forcing Seaver to call timeout.

It helped, as Ippolito converted a three-point play (layup, foul, free throw), but after a Guitard steal and pass to Conary, Conary fed Rose for a layup, Rose sank one free throw, then he scored on a pretty baseline floater.

After Michaud stemmed the tide with a layup and Vergara got a runner to roll home, Greely had a chance to cut the deficit to single digits, but Noble swung momentum for good, as Dodier stole the ball and raced in for a layup to make it 49-37 heading to the fourth quarter.

There, Noble quickly ended any remaining doubt and salted away its victory.

Dodier picked right up where he left off by draining a 3 10 seconds in, then Rose hit a fadeaway jumper on the run before Rose set up Conary for a 3 from the corner with 6:54 to go, capping a 10-0 run in just under two minutes. The assist gave Rose a double-double.

A free throw from Vergara ended the run, then Partridge sank two foul shots, but Rose set up sophomore Evan Ballard for a layup and after Leding answered with a layup, Rose drove and scored on a runner in the lane to make it 61-42.

Partridge made two free throws, but again, the Knights countered, as Rose banked home a runner and after Michaud made a free throw, Rose set up Ballard for a layup and after a turnover, Rose found Guitard for a short jumper and a 67-45 advantage.

After Partridge sank two foul shots, Guitard hit a jumper, Dodier tacked on a 3 and Guitard fed Rose for a layup.

Greely’s final points came in resounding fashion, as Ippolito took a pass from Partridge and slammed the ball home.

Rose then, fittingly, brought the curtain down with a driving layup to produce a 76-50 victory.

“This means a lot to us,” Rose said. “We’ve been grinding since June when we were in a hot gym. We’ve changed the culture around here. I was a freshman on the 0-18 team a couple years back, so this is great. We thrive on big crowds and the energy. That hyped us up to play better. We knew nobody expected us to come in this season and blow up like we did, but we persevered and proved everybody wrong.”

“I’m extremely proud of the guys and the community support,” said Morgan. “I get chills from all the people who are excited about Noble basketball. The kids have earned it and they’ve done it the right way. They’ve worked hard and the guys are able to showcase what they’ve worked for.”

Rose was exceptional with 24 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds, six steals and a blocked shot for good measure.

“For me, defense and passing opens up my scoring,” Rose said. “Defense is going to impact the game.”

“He’s done that all year,” Morgan said. “That’s something we expect of him. He doesn’t do that to pad stats. He’s doing it with how he plays. I’m not shocked and it’s a big part of us getting the win tonight.”

Dodier added 14 points, Guitard finished with a dozen (to go with four assists, four rebounds and two steals), Mutagoma had nine points, Conary eight (as well as six rebounds), Marzoli five and Bollard four.

“We knew coming into the year, they’d try to take me and (Bryce) away, so my teammates get in before practice and get shots up and that showed up today,” Rose said.

“People think we only have two guys who can score, but I feel like we have a good rotation of guys who are ready,” Morgan said.

The Knights had a 29-27 edge on the glass, made seven 3-pointers to the Rangers’ one, drained 5-of-8 free throws and overcame 15 turnovers.

Noble will next face Westbrook, a team it handled, 78-57, Jan. 30.

These Blue Blazes are a very different team, however, after shocking second-ranked, two-time reigning regional champion Falmouth, 50-43, in their quarterfinal Saturday.

Regardless, the Knights are having too much fun to stop now.

“We’re not done,” said Rose. “The whole team just vibes on each other. It’s a very collective group.”

“We have be disciplined and find a way to score the ball,” Morgan said. “We’re at full strength when we score 60 or 70 points. We’ve made a lot of history this year. I told Jamier as we were walking off, ‘I’m glad we got this, but we’re not close to finished.'”

Not enough

For Greely, Ippolito had a solid game, scoring 20 points, while also grabbing 13 rebounds. Partridge added 12 points and six steals, Michaud had six points and three assists, Vergara scored five points, Leding had four and Raftice three.

The Rangers made 13-of-22 free throws and turned the ball over 19 times.

“We had two or three possessions where we could gotten it to single digits and after that the wheels came off,” Seaver lamented. “The best player in the gym showed why he’s the best player in the gym.

“I told the guys from day one that our goal was to play our best basketball at the end and we did. We got a lot better. We were more organized, disciplined and understood the game a lot better by the end.”

Greely will part with Leding, Vergara, Colin Cieniawski and Nicolas Colamaria, but return a lot of younger kids who played big minutes this season and the Rangers hope to make an even deeper run next winter.

“There’s a lot of juniors in that room and obviously, we’ll miss our seniors,” Seaver said. “They’re great leaders. There’s a lot of upside. It’s about learning what it takes to win. Having that mentality to not lose. We have to get better at that and that will come with maturity.”

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

Comments are not available on this story.

Related Stories