GRAY — Advance directly to the Portland Expo.

Do not stop in the preliminary round. Do not collect a weekend’s worth of insomnia and cold sweats, worrying about a win-or-stay-home game between now and the Western Class B quarterfinals.

Gray-New Gloucester girls’ basketball players and coach Chris Aube looked like they’d won Monopoly — OK, maybe even a small lottery — after Friday’s 45-37 victory over Yarmouth.

The win, coupled with Falmouth’s mild surprise of Cape Elizabeth earlier in the evening, vaulted the Patriots (12-6) past the Capers into the coveted No. 7 spot in the Heal Point standings. G-NG avoids the dreaded prelim and won’t play its next official game until Tuesday, Feb. 16 at the tournament site against No. 2 Leavitt.

“The stars were aligned right for us. Falmouth helped us out,” Aube said. “But I think being 12-6, we deserve not to have to play a prelim.”

G-NG’s balance and overall size helped counter an enormous game by Yarmouth’s 6-foot-2 sophomore center, Morgan Cahill.

Kassie Wilson and Meghan Dehetre paced the Patriots with 13 points apiece. Laura Getchell added eight points and four steals.

Cahill concluded with 21 points, 19 rebounds and six blocked shots for the Clippers (5-13).

“She’s their biggest threat,” said Wilson, one of G-NG’s six seniors. “We had a game plan to front her and do the best we could against her, because she’s taller than any of us.”

But the 6-0 Wilson, 6-1 Alena Grant and 5-9 Getchell fought Cahill to a relative draw on the backboards. And the Patriots flaunted a weapon that never materialized for Yarmouth: Outside shooting.

Dehetre dropped two 3-pointers in the second quarter, keeping G-NG afloat through what was otherwise an extended cold snap. Yarmouth, which trailed early by seven points, sliced the deficit to 17-16 at the half on Cahill’s third-chance bucket with five seconds remaining.

Jeanna Lowery’s bank shot on the initial possession of the second half gave the Clippers a short-lived lead. Less than three minutes later, though, Dehetre’s third trey of the evening put the Patriots in front to stay.

“We were a little slow getting out of the gate, but generally speaking we’re a second-half team. That’s pretty much the time we kick it into overdrive,” Getchell said. “They were in a zone (defense). Luckily we hit some big 3-point shots when we needed to.”

G-NG made its share of noise in the paint despite the Cahill intimidation factor, too. Wilson nailed two straight jumpers from close range in the final 1:03.

She drove the left baseline in pursuit of a third consecutive hoop and found the front of the rim with one second left. Grant was there for the put-back to beat the horn and give the Patriots a 33-25 edge.

“It always comes down to the last two minutes with Yarmouth. I joke with Nick (Nash, Yarmouth’s coach) that we should just start the game with two minutes on the clock and play it out, Aube said. “But I thought Alena’s basket to end the third quarter was huge. It gave us a little breathing room, and I don’t think they got much closer the rest of the way.”

Yarmouth clawed within six on three different occasions, the last on Cahill’s 3-pointer to make it 42-36 with 56 seconds to go.

Getchell and Dehetre went 3-for-4 from the line to seal it.

G-NG started the season 0-2, including a home loss to York in which the Patriots scored only 11 points. The Patriots won six of their last eight games.

“We’re just happy to be in the top nine and get in,” Getchell said. “That’s what we wanted to accomplish. We’ve been with Coach Aube three years. He’s put us through a lot of hard workouts. It feels really rewarding to have this opportunity.”

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