PORTLAND — There’s a difference between getting what you wanted and getting what you needed.

Gray-New Gloucester wanted to spread out the floor against top-ranked York and get openings that would lead to layups. And the Patriots got that.

What they didn’t get was points.

The Patriots missed three layups in the opening minutes Tuesday night, then the Wildcats took over. Playing a harassing defense and aggressive offense, the defending Class B state champions pulled away to beat Gray-New Gloucester 55-14 in the Western Class B quarterfinals at the Portland Expo.

In winning its 41st consecutive game, top-ranked York (19-0) held the eighth-seeded Patriots (12-8) to four field goals – none in the first quarter.

The Wildcats will play Greely – a team they have beaten 54-28 and 48-22 – in the semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

“I thought we got what we wanted, unfortunately we weren’t able to take advantage of it,” said Patriots Coach Chris Aube. “That might have changed things a little bit. But that’s why they’re so good. We didn’t capitalize and it seemed they came right down and got layups.”

York Coach Rick Clark agreed that Gray-New Gloucester got too many easy shots in the opening minutes.

“Those were the easiest looks we’ve given up probably in the last half-season,” he said. “They didn’t hit them, luckily for us.”

So he spoke to his players during a timeout, made a slight adjustment on help defense, and the Wildcats took off.

“If we can hold defensively, then our offense will kick in,” said Clark. “A lot of (York’s scoring) came off steals and rebounds and contested looks. And that’s what we’ve done all year long.

“I told them, ‘Be the same. I don’t need a super performance, I don’t need unbelievable stuff. I just need you to do what you’ve done all season long.’ And we did it after the first four minutes.”

York led 10-1 after one quarter, with Emily Campbell playing a huge role on the boards and inside. Then the Wildcats took off to lead 29-6 at the half.

“They slowed it down at the beginning and that’s not our type of game,” said York guard Stephanie Gallagher. “We like to go and like to play tough defense. We had to make an adjustment, and our help defense was better after that.

“And after that we went out and played like we did. They talk about taking it one game at a time. Well, this game we took it one quarter at a time.”

Gray-New Gloucester missed four shots in the first quarter and turned the ball over seven times. Its only field goal of the first half was a 3-pointer by Alicia Valente with 7:13 left. They didn’t get another field goal until Maggie Chaplin put in an offensive rebound with 2:37 remaining in the third quarter.

“We were well aware of what we were going up against,” said Aube.

He asked his players at the half how they wanted to be remembered. “I don’t care what the score ends up,” he told them. “I just want to make sure we play with effort.” And they did.

Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at:

mlowe@pressherald.com