By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

AUBURN – In a game where every Heal Point mattered, every point scored was also crucial Friday night.

Both Gray-New Gloucester and St. Dom’s struggled through offensive droughts in a showdown between playoff hopefuls.

The Patriots (6-10) built an early lead and held off the Saints in the end for a 32-28 victory.

G-NG was 10th in the latest Western Maine Class B standings. The top 10 teams advance.

“We’re on the bubble,” said G-NG coach Harvey Moynihan, whose club finishes on the road at Greely and York. “We’ve got two games left. We figure we’ve got to win one of them. If we win one of them, we feel we’ll kind of be in control of our own destiny.”

St. Dom’s is in a similar position in Western C. The Saints (8-6) were ranked 12th, and the top 13 teams advance.

“We’ve got two big games next week,” said St. Dom’s coach Chet Lenfestey, whose team plays Waynflete and Sacopee Valley. “We’re definitely in the hunt, but it’s so close I think we need to win out.”

The Patriots scored eight straight points in the first quarter to build an 8-2 lead. It was an advantage G-NG never relinquished. A 3-pointer by Brittany Humphrey, baskets by Jen Farynaz and a free throw from Brittany Gilbert helped provide the Patriots the early lead.

Though the Patriots struggled at times against the St. Dom’s zone, G-NG still managed enough offense to keep the lead.

“Our girls, they work hard, but they’re nervous,” said Moynihan, whose team has two players that saw any time last season. “They’re tentative. If you have to think about it on offense, you might as well forget about it. You’ve got to react and shoot the open shot.”

The Patriots started the second and third quarters shooting 0-for-7 in each. It wasn’t until nearly the final minute of the second that G-NG hit a field goal. A Steph Googins 3-pointer with 1:09 left and a three-point play from Ana Danieli turned a 12-8 lead into an 18-8 halftime advantage.

In the third, the Saints closed within nine points, but a 3-pointer from Farynaz and a three-point play from Olivia Ryan bumped the lead back to double digits.

“You need that outside shot,” said Moynihan. “That kind of loosens things up.”

Humphrey, Farynaz and Ryan each had seven for the Patriots. St. Dom’s got 10 from Katie Lyon and eight from Malley O’Shea.

“We certainly shoot better than we did tonight,” said Lenfestey. “Katie Landry and Hannah Beaulieu are usually pretty consistent from there. We just couldn’t get it to go.”

The Saints did get some post scoring in the final quarter. St. Dom’s got within eight four times, but the Patriots always answered. Finally, free throws by Abby Gilbert and a jumper by O’Shea got the Saints within four with 1:21 left.

The Saints had a chance to cut the lead but a missed free throw, a turnover and a missed jumper nixed the Saints hopes as G-NG ran out the clock.