PORTLAND — Nicole Faietta knew it was her time.

With Greely’s post game held in check for much of the first half, the Greely senior guard knew the perimiter players had to do their part.

“We knew we needed to step it up and make some shots,” said Faietta. “We knew that they were going to pack it in down low on Abby (Young) and Megan (Grondin). Our post players practice kicking it out.”

Getting the ball back outside was just part of the equation and players like Faietta and Karlee Biskup lived up to their job description. Greely’s hot-shooting third period proved decisive as the Rangers delivered a knockout punch of Leavitt in a 59-38 win Thursday at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

The Rangers (18-2) did something few teams have done against potent Hornets – outshoot them. Greely drilled eight 3-pointers while Leavitt, which averaged about 67 points per game, sank just one.

“I’ve got a good team, and it was a matter of them playing up to their potential, and they did,” said Greely coach Bill Goodman, who fired up Fiaetta and Biskup at the half. “I wasn’t too psyched at halftime. We missed some shots but a couple players weren’t just fighting the way they should. If you’re going to go down, you better go down shooting. Faietta come out and played one awesome half and Biskup picked it up.”

Faietta finished with a team-high 15 points while Young and Grondin each added 13. Biskup finished with eight.

Leavitt got 16 from Courtney Anderson and eight from Kristen Anderson. Abbey Randall and Adrie Newton each had seven.

“You’ve got to give it to them,” said Leavitt coach Tammy Anderson. “Our kids played hard. We just couldn’t buy a basket. We did what we usually do. We thought we were in a little bit of trouble when we missed some foul shots from kids that normally make them.”

Leavitt shot 15-for-27 from the foul line and 10-for-51 from the floor. The third quarter proved decisive as Greely hit 6-of-9 shots while Leavitt sank just 3-of-20. The 24-8 quarter put the Hornets deep in the hole and had the Rangers rolling.

“We can do that,” said Goodman of his team’s outshot shot. “We love to get it down low. I don’t like to stay with that for long, but if we ‘re open, we might as well shoot it. I don’t want them to play scared.”

Leavitt did a decent job defensively defending Greely’s post game in the first half.  The Rangers had 13 turnovers and struggled to get offense going consistently. The Rangers had a five-point lead twice in the first quarter but settled for a 22-20 lead at the half.

“It was close at the beginning,” said Faietta. “We knew we could have played better. So we knew we needed to step it up.”

The Rangers did just that. Faietta lit the spark with a 3-pointer to start the third. After a Kristen Anderson jumper, Faietta hit another for a 28-22 lead.

“That picked up the whole tempo of the game,” said Faeitta. “Everyone started hitting their 3’s. When one person makes their 3’s, it seems like everyone else makes them.”

Caroline Hamilton converted a three-point play. After a Newton basket inside, Grondin scored on another three-point play to give Greely the largest lead of the game, 34-24. Newton sank a free throw, but Greely answered with 15 straight. Biskup hit a pair of 3’s while Young, Faietta, Chelsea Bridges and Grondin scored to build a 49-25 lead. Leavitt went over five minutes without a field goal when Courtney Anderson hit Leavitt’s lone 3-pointer of the game in the final minute.

Leavitt finished the year at 18-2 with a KVAC title in hand. It was the best season for the Hornets since winning 14 games and finishing second in 1976.

“You know when you come to a place like this, you wonder what the kids are going to be like,” said Anderson. “I can’t be more proud of them. We had a great year. We had a goal at the beginning of the year and this was all icing and we worked hard to do that.”