AUGUSTA – If there was ever a time for a defensive stop, this was it.

For a team that prides itself on defense, the Greely girls’ basketball team relied on it Friday night as the Gorham Rams made one final charge.

“The kids dug in,” said Greely coach Jim Seavey. They said: ‘No way, this is not slipping away.”’

Greely watched an eight-point lead dwindle in the final quarter as the Rams scored 10 straight points, but after Gorham tied the game 41-41, the Rangers put a stop to Gorham’s run. The Rangers finished the Rams off from the foul line for a 49-41 Western B championship victory.

“I was definitely really nervous,” said Greely guard Brigitte Demers. “All of a sudden it was 41-41 and there’s 2:30 remaining. That’s where you knew which team was going to come through and which team had the most experience. We stepped it up and got it done.”

Demers led the Rangers (19-2) with a career-high 13 points. Abby Marstaller and Michelle Robb each had 12 for the two-time defending regional champs. Gorham (16-5) got 14 from Laura Popovics and 12 from Eileen Jenkins.

The Rangers opened a 40-32 lead with five minutes left in the game thanks to a pair of free throws and a 3 from Demers, who had 12 points in the second half. The Rams had one last burst of offense though. A steal by Elisabeth Beagle started it off. A pair of Popovic 3’s helped keep it going. Her second with 2:36 left came off an offensive rebound of a free throw and tied it at 41-41.

Greely quickly took the lead back when Robb drew a foul and hit both free throws. That put the Rangers in the driver’s seat, and Gorham never scored again.

“What I love about our kids is we didn’t panic,” said Seavey. “We dug in and got it done. Michelle got to the line and put us ahead and then Abby took control at both ends. She blocked a shot and had a couple of rebounds and hit some huge free throws down the stretch.”

Down by two, Gorham tried to counter but a Popovic’s shot missed and Demers got the rebound. That set up free throws by Marstaller. Then a steal by Stephanie Ginn set up two more for Marstaller at the line as Greely hit six straight foul shots.

“I told my girls to get them to the foul line and let them beat us from the foul line,” said Gorham coach Sherry Sandora.

After building a 24-13 lead at the half, Greely watched Gorham’s offense ignite in the third quarter. A 10-2 run led by Popovic and Jenkins had the Rams with 26-23. Demers helped spark a 10-2 finish to build the lead back to 34-27 entering the fourth.

“I knew if I had my mechanics right it would all fall together,” said Demers. “Abby told me in the locker room to keep shooting and they’d fall. I kept that in mind and I kept shooting.”

Gorham had one last run in its offense but the late start made it a long way back.

“At halftime I said to the girls, ‘What happened to the team I brought here?”’ said Sandora.

“For some reason when we came out we weren’t really with it. It took us some time to really get with it and that hurt us in the end.”