Our Communities. Our Teams. Our Future.
We’re proud to make high school sports coverage free for everyone—because these moments matter. At Maine State Credit Union, we’re here for the people and places that make Maine strong. Let’s Go! Learn more at mainestatecu.org. 

Led by 18 points from Skye Conley and 16 from Grace Kariotis, second-seeded Gray-New Gloucester defeated No. 7 Freeport 56-30 in a Class B South girls’ basketball quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon at the Portland Expo.

Conley and Kariotis combined for 17 points in the first half as Gray-New Gloucester (15-4) built a 26-13 lead. The Patriots outscored Freeport 12-3 in the second quarter, then started the second half with a 12-4 run.

“Grace opens it up for us. When Grace is knocking down shots, it opens up the inside game,” said Gray-New Gloucester Coach Mike Andreasen. “Grace is a three-year varsity player, so this is not a new environment to her, which is kind of nice.”

The Patriots will play No. 3 Lake Region in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Thursday at Cross Insurance Arena. Gray-New Gloucester won the only regular-season meeting, 45-42 at Lake Region on Jan. 12.

Gray-New Gloucester came out hot, jumping to an 8-0 lead in the first four minutes on 3-pointers by Kariotis and Ashley Jordan and a putback by Conley. Conley, a junior, added two more baskets in the quarter to keep the Patriots in front.

“When Skye gets the ball, good things happen,” said Andreasen. “If she isn’t scoring, she’s finding open people. She’s very heady.”

Freeport (9-10) responded to the Patriots’ quick start with a 10-4 run, closing the gap to 12-10.

The Falcons deployed a full-court press for most of the game. Coach Michael Hart used 10 players in the first quarter as he tried to keep everyone fresh.

“We wanted to force the tempo and make it a faster-paced game. We knew that is what we were good at,” said Hart. “This team’s strength has been its depth. There is no superstar; we all play together as a team.”

The Patriots have sometimes been vulnerable to the press, but adjusted well as the game went along.

“We tried to focus on breaking the press because we’ve kind of struggled with that,” said Kariotis. “I think Lake Region (presses) also, so we need to keep working on that.”

Gray-New Gloucester relied on its defense to take control in the middle quarters.

“We actually jumped out of our zone (defense in the second quarter) and went straight man,” said Andreasen.

“(Coach Andreasen) did a nice job mixing up his zones and man (defense), forcing us to think. When you get in the half court against that (defense), it slows us down and that’s not our game,” said Hart.

Three baskets by Conley in the third quarter helped Gray-New Gloucester stretch its lead to 39-21.

“At first, we were getting used to the atmosphere, and then we buckled down, worked together more, and we were able to go on that run,” said Conley.

Jessica Wall led Freeport with eight points before fouling out with 6:56 left.

“Sometimes when (Wall) goes to make plays it looks like she’s being forceful, but she’s a strong kid. That’s kind of the way her season has been going a little bit,” said Hart.