PORTLAND — The York High girls’ basketball team has some of the best scorers in the area. But, said Greely Coach Bill Goodman, “the reason they’ve won 42 games in a row is their defense.”

And that 42nd consecutive victory provided plenty of proof Thursday.

The top-ranked Wildcats held Goodman’s Rangers to one field goal over the final 24 minutes, 51 seconds to pull away for an easy 46-15 victory in the Western Class B semifinals at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

York led just 13-9 after one quarter but held the Rangers scoreless in the second — forcing 11 turnovers — and to six points in the final two quarters.

“They have speed, they’re strong, they’re in your face all over the court,” said Goodman, whose fifth-ranked Rangers finished 15-5, losing three times to York. “It’s just great, great defense.”

And it will be tested Saturday when the defending Class B state champs play No. 2 Leavitt for the regional title at 2 p.m. Both teams are 20-0 but play decidedly different styles. York allowed just over 28 points per game this year, Leavitt scored just under 80.

“We just work really well together,” said center Nicole Taylor, who scored 11 points to become York’s all-time leading scorer with 1,419 points, passing Lani Boardman. “We’re talking all the time, we’re helping. … We all just work well with each other. Everybody is in sync on defense. We might not always be in sync on offense, but we’re always in sync on defense.”

Stephanie Gallagher’s offensive rebound basket with 4.8 seconds left in the first quarter gave the Wildcats a 13-9 lead.

Greely, which came out in a spread offense to take time off the clock and look for good shots, then threw the ball away on its first six possessions of the second quarter and York began to pull away.

Marquis MacGlashing, still coming back from a knee injury suffered over the summer, gave the Wildcats a big lift with her inside play in the second quarter, which ended with York ahead 25-9.

The Wildcats finished the quarter with a flurry, getting eight points in the final 1:54 – a 3-pointer by Gallagher, a three-point play by MacGlashing off a steal, and a second-chance jumper by Gallagher.

The Rangers, who had a 3-0 lead on Caroline Hamilton’s 3-pointer, didn’t get a field goal in the third quarter either, the drought reaching 18:20 between Sara Warnock’s jumper with 51 seconds left in the first quarter and Chelsea Bridges’ foul-line jumper with 6:31 left in the game.

“I just think we got more into it defensively,” said Rick Clark, the veteran York coach. “We always do. I told the girls, ‘You held Greely to just six points over the last three quarters. That’s incredible.’ They’re not a bad team.”

The Rangers really had no answer for York’s defense.

“You try different things and it’s the turnovers that really killed us,” said Goodman. “I tried everything we had.”

Gallagher, who also had 11 points for the Wildcats, said they thrive on defense.

“It’s all about intensity,” she said. “We show what we have on the floor and our offense comes from it. It’s like that every day in practice too. Our subs really push us. And we don’t lose anything when they’re in the game.”

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

mlowe@pressherald.com