G-NG’s John Henry Villanueva battles toward the net, resisted by Yarmouth’s Nolan Hagerty on defense.

Patriot Tanner Mann sidles into the key on the offensive vs. visiting Yarmouth on Tuesday night.

It took G-NG standout John Martin quite a while to get warmed up vs. Yarmouth on Tuesday night, but he did find a groove eventually, and finished with the Patriots’ best tally, 16, including four threes.

Josh Magno knocked down four of G-NG’s 11 threes vs. the Clippers on Tuesday.

Yarmouth successfully held G-NG’s Hunter Colby, a danger underneath, to just four points on Tuesday night.

GRAY – The Patriots are a program on the upswing, but the best efforts they could assemble vs. visiting Yarmouth on Tuesday night, Jan. 31, weren’t enough. Despite knocking down 11 three-pointers – including four each by John Martin and Josh Magno – G-NG simply didn’t have it in them to unseat the Clippers, and ultimately fell 68-49.

“My biggest concern,” said G-NG head coach Ryan Deschenes, “was the transition game. [Yarmouth] got going. Those bigs handle the ball so well. Their guards are so quick.”

The Clippers jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back. They hashed the outing’s first basket and built on contributions by Aleksandar Medenica, Aidan Hickey, Noah Eckersley-Ray, Gibson Harnett and Igor Nikolic to a 26-11 advantage after one. Hunter Colby added two on an o-reb for the Patriots in the opening moments, but the home team’s only other points in the stretch came on a trio of threes, one each by Magno, John Henry Villanueva and Oliver Grant.

G-NG struggled, especially in the early going, to sink shots; the Patriots lofted a fair few balls up, toward the net, but couldn’t seem to find the inside of the hoop. Martin, the team’s most potent weapon, didn’t establish a groove until late in the second, for example. Meanwhile, the Clippers hit the court running, nailing attempt after attempt from the opening tip-off onward.

“The key for them was making shots. They capitalized,” Deschenes said. “Harnett got open early and nailed threes from the corner.”

To the Patriots’ credit, they slowed Yarmouth down appreciably in the second. G-NG couldn’t cut into the Clippers’ lead, but they did roughly match their guests’ output, tallying 13 to Yarmouth’s 15. A pair of Villanueva frees and a Magno three sparked the push, but it was Martin’s settling in and notching seven rapid-fire points that anchored the performance.

Alas, the Clippers returned to the action after the halftime break and immediately launched into a crushing run. Yarmouth outscored G-NG by a whopping 23-9 in that time, pulling away to 64-33. The Patriots would steal back a few of those points in the downhill eight minutes, when Colby added a two, Zach Brady a two and Martin three threes, but Yarmouth had this one in the proverbial bag. 68-49 the final.

“Before we knew it, we were down 20,” Deschenes said. “[Yarmouth’s] at another level; they’re playing for a Gold Ball.”

Martin finished with G-NG’s heftiest contribution, 16. Magno followed him with 12; Villanueva added seven, Grant six, and Brady and Colby four apiece. The team committed 21 turnovers to Yarmouth’s 11, and went 6-9 from the line.

The loss dropped G-NG to 7-8 on the season. That record may be on the frustrating side of .500, but it’s still substantially better than the one they put together in 2015-16, when they went 2-16 and missed the playoffs by a mile. Moreover, the current crop of Patriots features a good deal of young talent – including Martin, Magno, Colby and Ryan Lachance, all of whom are sophomores – so the program is likely to hit even higher heights in coming years.

G-NG does look set to squeak into the playoffs this winter: In B South, the top nine squads all earn a slot, and the Patriots are currently ranked ninth. Their final three games – vs. Waynflete, Poland and Freeport – offer up plenty of valuable Heal Points. The Flyers in particular look critical in G-NG’s pursuit of the bracketing; Waynflete is currently ranked eighth in C South at 10-5. 

“We want to get in and lay a foundation for a young team and hit the ground running next year,” said Deschenes. “We control our destiny, but we have to win some games. Waynflete will be a huge game.”

The Forecaster’s Mike Hoffer contributed to this story.

Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CurrentSportsME