GRAY — Gray-New Gloucester’s defense locked them down and Ali Portas knocked them down in the Patriots’ 68-26 Class A South girls basketball victory over Greely on Tuesday.

Portas made seven 3-pointers and scored 33 points, all of her treys and most of her scoring coming in the middle quarters. On the other end of the floor, Gray-NG was holding Greely to three points in the second period and three in the third.

“It feels really good,” Portas said of her hot shooting. “I’m just really impressed with my performance, and my teammates really helped me and gave me open shots, and I was able to knock them down.”

The Patriots (13-2) have defeated the Rangers (8-9) twice this season, having won the teams’ first meeting 53-43 on Dec. 19.

Gray-New Gloucester coach Mike Andreasen was worried about the Patriots starting slow Tuesday. It did take a few minutes to get going, but they scored seven straight points to take a 7-3 lead and were up 16-10 after one quarter.

Izzy Morelli scored 27 points against Greely last month, so the Rangers were focused on slowing her this time.

“We dedicated somebody to her, but then Ali stepped up. So we left somebody open,” Greely coach Todd Flaherty said. “So it wasn’t enough today, but we did want to make sure Izzy didn’t beat us, and I don’t think she did, but the rest of the team did. So kudos to them.”

Six Patriots scored in the opening quarter, led by Portas’ six, which included 4-of-4 shooting at the free-throw line.

“It was good to see us play as a team, work the ball around. I liked our passing,” Andreasen said.

Gray-New Gloucester, paced by Portas, dominated the second quarter.

A few minutes into the period, Portas stole the ball and dribbled it down the court before pulling up for a jumper that made it 19-10.

Portas drew a charge on defense on Greely’s next possession, then Gray-NG’s Laney Farrar was fouled on a drive to the hoop. Farrar made the first free throw then missed the second, but the Patriots grabbed the rebound and kicked the ball to Portas, who hit a 3-pointer.

About a minute later, Portas was left wide open a few feet behind the 3-point arc, giving her time to square up and sink another triple.

Andreasen said the Patriots’ ball movement helped set up many of Portas’ shots, and then Portas was, he said, “The finisher.”

Portas later pulled down a rebound and took the ball coast to coast for a basket, capping a 14-0 run and giving Gray-NG a 30-10 advantage with 1:55 left in the opening half.

Portas scored 16 points in the first half in a variety of ways — free throws, drives to the hoop, pull-up jumpers and a couple treys.

“Once they were guarding (Izzy) in the post, that left me open outside, and then when they were (guarding) me outside, I tried to get in because I saw lanes,” Portas said.

Greely’s Asja Kelman ended the Patriots scoring run with a basket 30 seconds later, the Rangers’ first points of the second quarter. Thet only had one more point, a free throw by Lauren Hester, in the period.

“We do pride ourselves on defense first. In spite of her shooting,” Andreasen said, referring to Portas, “we do think that we’re a defensive team first.”

Portas scored 10 of the 14 points during the second-quarter run, but that wasn’t even her most impressive stretch of the game.

She opened the third-quarter scoring with a pair of 3-pointers in the first couple of minutes to extend Gray-NG’s cushion to 38-15.

Abi Livingston banked in a 3 for Greely’s only points of the third midway through the period.

Portas then caught fire, hitting three 3-pointers in a 44-second stretch to push the Patriots’ lead to 48-16.

The final 3 came on a fast break. The ball was passed up court to Portas, who caught it behind the arc and launched a trey.

“When I was open, I was going to let it fly, because I felt confident and I was in rhythm,” Portas said. “And then they just kept going in, so I just kept shooting when I was open.”

Portas made five 3s in the third and seven in the game, which ties her career high.

She finally missed one with about two minutes left in the third and spent the rest of the quarter on the bench.

Hailey Carson added four more points for Gray-New Gloucester, and in between the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second, the Patriots lead grew from 16-10 to 52-16.

“I think they just imposed their will on us,” Flaherty said. “On the glass, they out-rebounded us, they beat us to loose balls, and then, I don’t know what they shot from the floor, but they shot a high percentage, for sure.

“I mean, they’re a good team. They played up to their abilities today, for sure. We’ll learn from that.”

Portas sat most of the fourth quarter, but her shooting touch was contagious. Ella Kenney, Ivy Ouellette and Allyson Bouchard all made treys in the final period.

Morelli was limited to seven points, which tied with Kenney for the second most on the Patriots, who had 10 players score Tuesday.

“I really thought our ball movement in transition helped us a lot, and then, obviously, our defense, every game leads to our offense,” Portas said. “And then once we’re cooking on defense and offense, we’re almost unstoppable.”

Freshman Sophia Littel, who entered the game late in the third quarter, was Greely’s top scorer with eight points, which included a pair of 3-pointers. She was playing her first varsity minutes Tuesday.

“We just told her that she took great advantage of her minutes when she got in there, right?” Flaherty said. “She’s a good shooter, she’s a nice player, she’s a smart, heady player, so she’s got a bright future.”

Kelman finished with five points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for the Rangers.

Gray-New Gloucester, which entered the game ranked third in the A South Heal point standings, next faces Freeport (7-9) on Friday in Gray.

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