PORTLAND — With about three minutes left in the halftime break, Rick Clark turned to leave the York High girls’ locker room and let his players think about the task ahead. The second-ranked Wildcats trailed No. 10 Gray-New Gloucester by five points, and Clark had one simple question for his players before he left:

“He asked us,” said senior guard Addison Labonte, “if we really wanted the rest of our season to be just 16 minutes long.”

The Wildcats provided the answer on the court. Behind a more aggressive offense and an always-tenacious defense, York rallied to beat the Patriots 51-42 in the Western Class B quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon at the Portland Expo.

Senior point guard Andrea Mountford, scoreless in the first half, had 12 points in the final two quarters. Labonte scored five of her seven in the critical third quarter. And the Wildcats hit 9 of 12 foul shots in the final 2:50 to secure the win.

“We knew we had to get our energy up,” said York junior Emily Campbell, who also had 12 points, as did Marquis MacGlashing. “I think we realized that this is it. We definitely had to step it up in the second half.”

York (15-4) will play No. 3 Greely in the regional semifinals at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The teams split in the regular season.

Gray-New Gloucester (10-10) was led by junior guard Haley Cote. She scored 20 points and set a Western Class B tournament record with six 3-pointers.

“Winning and having success is contagious,” said Patriots Coach Mike Andreasen. “And down the stretch, they played with a little more polish. They were a little more seasoned.”

Entering this season, York had won all but two games the last three years — playing in two state championships and a regional final. The Wildcats knew what to expect.

“I think our experience helped,” said Campbell. “And just playing in these situations.”

York scored the first nine points of the third quarter, five by Labonte, whose 3-pointer forced Andreasen to call a timeout 3:13 into the third. Gray came back to tie it at 29, as Cote hit back-to-back 3s. But MacGlashing and Mountford stepped up to give the Wildcats a 38-31 lead entering the fourth.

MacGlashing’s three-point play put York ahead 32-29. Then Mountford stole the ball at midcourt and went in for a layup to make it 34-29.

Cote hit two foul shots, but Mountford scored on a drive and then again stole the ball at midcourt and went in alone for a 38-31 lead.

“York’s not the offensive force it was the last couple of years,” said Andreasen. “But if you don’t take care of the ball … they get their offense off your bad offense.”

Gray-NG hung around, but York’s foul shooting down the stretch was the difference. Mountford hit 4 of 6 and Ruby Cribby sank 5 of 6.

Clark gave the Patriots a lot of credit for York’s poor offense in the first half. Gray-NG forced York’s offense to start farther out than normal, and the Wildcats stood around, waiting for something to happen.

In the second half, they were much more aggressive.

And they answered Clark’s question.

“We didn’t want it to end,” said Mountford. 

Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at:
mlowe@pressherald.com
Twitter: MikeLowePPH