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Abbey Steele’s name fits her game. When the Gray-New Gloucester sophomore shoots the ball, it’s with firm resolve.

And, it was Steele’s smooth shooting — from behind the 3-point line and especially while going 6 for 6 from the free-throw line in the final 33 seconds — that solidified the a 53-47 win for the third-seeded Patriots in a Class A South girls basketball semifinal against No. 2 Marshwood on Wednesday afternoon at the Portland Expo.

Steele scored 13 of her 15 points in the final nine minutes. Those points were critical to the Patriots (16-4) as they sought to hold off a determined defensive effort from Marshwood (17-3). Steele also had to pick up point-guard duties down the stretch because Laney Farrar was unable to return after hitting her head hard on the court while grappling for a rebound with 3:13 to play.

“Abbey’s our best 3-point shooter. She’s our best free-throw shooter,” Gray-New Gloucester coach Mike Andreasen said. “Abbey really needed to take over as a point guard, too. That’s probably why she got fouled more, because she was handling the ball more.

The Patriots will face No. 1 Mt. Ararat (18-2) at 6 p.m. Friday at the Expo. Mt. Ararat beat Gray-New Gloucester twice in the regular season, 52-37, and 49-38.

How it happened

• In a regular-season overtime loss at Marshwood, Gray-New Gloucester had a 16-point halftime lead. At the Expo, the Patriots again started fast and led 17-7 after one quarter and 30-21 at the half. They shot well overall (10 of 20), made four 3-pointers, and scored in transition.

“It’s good to get out to an early start because you don’t have to keep digging back,” said Gray-New Gloucester junior Ella Kenney.

• Gray-New Gloucester missed its first 10 shots of the third quarter and compounded its struggles with scratchy ball-handling. Marshwood also had a problem with turnovers but cut the lead to 32-30 with two minutes to play in the third, partly because of two strong inside moves from Sarah Theriault.

• Kenney, a versatile offensive player who scored 20 points, got Gray-New Gloucester’s first second-half field goal, but that was quickly matched by Renee St. Pierre, who scored 10 points off the Hawks’ bench. Then Steele knocked down a corner 3 for a 37-32 lead after three quarters. She made another 3 on her team’s first possession of the fourth quarter.

“I take that shot a lot, so I felt comfortable, but I also felt we needed to get the momentum back, so I felt it was a good shot to take,” Steele said.

• Marshwood did get the lead back down to three points, 47-44, on a bucket by Emily Clark with less than a minute to play, but Steele’s free throws kept the Hawks at bay.

“You can’t dig yourself out of a hole so many times. You have to close the gap, like we did in the third, and then keep it there,” said Marshwood coach Angie Littlefield.

Statistics of note

Kenney was 8 of 10 from the floor and 2 of 2 at the free-throw line. Steele finished 9 of 10 at the free-throw line, 7 of 8 in the fourth quarter.

Marshwood’s Theriault scored 14 points, and Isabelle Tice had 12 before fouling out with 1:43 to play.