CUMBERLAND—For years, the Greely High gymnasium has been a house of horrors for the Gray-New Gloucester boys’ basketball team.

But Tuesday afternoon, the Patriots made themselves right at home and earned a huge early-season dose of confidence.

While ridding themselves of a nearly two decade-old albatross in the process.

Gray-New Gloucester started fast, taking a quick 15-8 lead behind the sharpshooting of juniors Nate Hebert and Noah Hebert, and was up, 18-13, after one quarter.

The Rangers, playing without senior Seamus Raftice, who missed the game with the flu, hung tough and took a momentary lead in the second quarter on a 3-pointer from senior Hayden MacArthur and only trailed by a basket, 25-23, at halftime.

The Patriots then roared out of the gate in the second half, scoring eight straight points, and won the quarter, 21-4, as Nate Hebert hit four 3-pointers, to take a commanding 46-27 lead.

Greely was unable to answer in the fourth period and Gray-New Gloucester went on to a 57-36 victory.

Nate Hebert finished with a game-high 25 points as the Patriots not only improved to 3-2 on the season and dropped the Rangers to 1-3, but in the process, they beat Greely for the first time in eight years and for the first time in Cumberland since Feb. 6, 2003.

“It’s great for all of us, especially for the seniors who have lost here,” said Noah Hebert. “It’s amazing for Coach too. We were fired up. We wanted to win badly.”

Second half onslaught

Greely, a Class A South semifinalist a year ago, opened with a 54-49 loss at Fryeburg Academy, downed visiting Brunswick on Raftice’s buzzer-beater, 43-42, then dropped a 66-59 decision last week at Class AA South contender Gorham.

Gray-New Gloucester, meanwhile, rolled in its opener, 70-50, at Freeport, then fell at home in overtime to Biddeford (50-45), dropped a 67-63 decision at Kennebunk, then handled host Poland, 86-56, last Friday.

Greely twice beat the Patriots in close games a year ago, 62-57 in Gray and 67-60 at home.

Tuesday, the Rangers hoped to make it 12 straight victories in the series, but instead, Gray-New Gloucester beat Greely for the first time since a 51-41 triumph Dec. 5, 2014 (in Gray) and for the first time in Cumberland since before any current player was born.

Gray-New Gloucester junior Noah Hebert defends Greely senior Tyler Pettengill during the Patriots’ 57-36 victory Tuesday. Hoffer photos.

The Patriots broke the ice on a fastbreak layup from Nate Hebert, set up by senior Maxwell Kenney, but sophomore Ethan Michaud answered with a putback for the Rangers.

The visitors then got their first 3-pointer, from Noah Hebert, and Noah Hebert added a steal after a layup for a quick 7-2 lead.

Greely responded, as first junior Jackson Leding, then senior Hayden MacArthur drained 3s, but the next eight points went to Gray-New Gloucester, as Nate Hebert banked home a shot, Noah Hebert hit two foul shots, senior Michael Ryan made a layup, then Nate Hebert sank two more free throws to make it 15-8.

The Rangers ended the run with a long 3 from senior Tyler Pettengill and after junior Carter Libby countered with a 3 for the Patriots, Michaud drove for a layup to make the score 18-13 after one quarter.

Greely came out strong to start the second period, pulling even on a 3 from Pettengill and a driving layup from MacArthur. After a free throw from Kenney put Gray-New Gloucester back on top, MacArthur drained a 3 from the corner to give the Rangers their final advantage, 21-19.

After Nate Hebert got a floater to bounce in to tie it, Noah Hebert found junior Aidan Hebert with a length-of-the-court pass for an easy layup and the Patriots had the lead for good with 2:30 to go before halftime.

Noah Hebert then put on a show, racing in for a dunk after a steal by Aidan Hebert.

“We look to get up the floor and we executed really well,” Noah Hebert said. “That (dunk) felt great and it got the crowd going.”

A driving layup from Michaud puled Greely back within two, 25-23, at the break.

In the first half, Noah Hebert led all scorers with nine points, while Nate Hebert added eight. MacArthur paced the Rangers with eight.

Greely sophomore Ethan Michaud is pressured by Gray-New Gloucester senior Maxwell Kenney.

Gray-New Gloucester then ended any lingering doubt with a dazzling third quarter display of defense and outside shooting.

After committing just six turnovers in the first half, Greely gave the ball away a half-dozen times in the first three minutes of the second half alone and the Patriots scored eight quick points, as Aidan Hebert banked home a shot, Noah Hebert set up Nate Hebert for a 3 and after a steal, Noah Hebert converted an old-fashioned three-point play (steal, layup, foul, free throw) to make it 33-23 and force Rangers coach Travis Seaver to call timeout.

“We just couldn’t play either side of the floor,” lamented Seaver. “(Gray-New Gloucester) has a really good group this year and (Coach) Ryan (Deschenes) does a really good job with them. We got sloppy and they started making shots and went on a good run and we never punched back. They’re all shooters. When they start making shots, it spreads the floor and makes it difficult. Our inability to take that away tonight was very obvious.”

MacArthur momentarily stemmed the tide with a putback, ending a 3 minute, 58 second scoring drought, but Nate Hebert sank a 3 and Aidan Hebert made a layup after a steal for a 38-25 lead.

After sophomore Kade Ippolito made a jumper for the Rangers, Gray-New Gloucester closed the frame with a pair of 3s from Nate Hebert and a layup from Ryan after a Libby steal, to make the score 46-27.

“We tried to do a little more sagging on some guys to see if we could protect the paint against their actions,” Deschenes said. “We’re at our best when we’re in passing lanes, pressuring and speeding up the game. We have some good length. We’re versatile 1-through-5.”

The fourth period was a formality, as the Patriots never let Greely entertain any hopes of a comeback.

After Libby took a feed from Kenney and made a layup to start the final stanza, Michaud made a free throw to end Gray-New Gloucester’s 10-0 run and a 4:38 drought.

Noah Hebert then made a free throw and Nate Hebert hit a floater before Michaud and Nate Hebert traded 3s.

Down the stretch, the Rangers got layups from Michaud and sophomore Andrew Padgett and a foul shot from senior Tate Nadeau for their final point before one final Patriots’ 3-pointer, this one from senior Andrew Reynolds, brought the curtain down on their 57-36 triumph.

“I think we just wanted it more and we played well,” Noah Hebert said.

“It’s not easy to win here,” said Deschenes. “We knew even with Seamus unfortunately out sick that they were still a good team. They execute really well. They defend. In the first half, they gave us everything they had. We knew we had to play at our best. The guys responded in the third quarter when we upped our pressure. ”

Nate Hebert set the tone with 25 points. Noah Hebert added 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocked shots. Aidan Hebert had six points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals, Libby finished with five points (to go with seven rebounds and three assists), Ryan four (to go with six rebounds), Reynolds three and Kenney one (to go with five boards, three assists and two steals).

Gray-New Gloucester had a 37-29 rebounding advantage, only turned the ball over 13 times and made 7-of-9 free throws.

Greely’s effort was paced by Michaud, who had 12 points, and MacArthur, who wound up with 10. Pettengill added six points, Leding had three, Ippolito and Padgett two apiece and Nadeau one. Senior Parker Sasseville didn’t score, but had five rebounds and three steals.

The Rangers committed 17 turnovers and made 2-of-5 free throws.

They only scored 13 second half points.

An open region

While reigning champion Falmouth is still the favorite in Class A South, the gap has closed and there are several squad entertaining title hopes this winter.

Including the Patriots and Rangers.

Gray-New Gloucester is back in action Tuesday of next week at home against Fryeburg Academy as it looks to keep rolling.

“I feel like we have a shot,” Noah Hebert said. “We’re looking good. We have to practice hard every day and stay competitive.”

“The region is much better this year top-to-bottom,” Deschenes said. “Falmouth is still the team to beat, but there are a lot of teams in the mix that are good. The guys know how we need to play to be successful. We need to keep developing good habits. We feel we can be there, but there’s a long way to go.”

Greely goes to York for a makeup game Saturday, then opens the 2023 portion of its schedule next Tuesday at Freeport.

“We have to get to a point where we put our best foot forward every single night,” Seaver said. “I think our upside is there. We just have to find it. We just have to put it all together and hopefully we can do that sooner than later.”

Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.