PORTLAND—Eliza Hotham led for the Lady Patriots as they blasted past Wells at the Cross Insurance Arena on Thursday, Feb. 21. Hotham – G-NG’s secret weapon, make no doubt about it – stepped up to the tune of 16 points when the Warriors focused their defense on big names Bri Jordan and Jordan Grant. 48-34 the final.

The bout took place at Cross Insurance Arena.

“We all just really wanted this game really badly,” Hotham said, asked about her performance. “So when I felt I was open, I took my shots – even though I didn’t make all of them. I just knew we had to score because Jordi’s game was being taken away.”

“As a team, we shot really well,” Hotham said.

The Patriots outpaced Wells in each of the first three quarters: G-NG went up 11-9 after one on a Jordan three and three Jordan frees, as well as a Hotham three. Wells’ points came primarily from Franny Ramsdell, with a three and a two, though Mallory Aromando and Grace Ramsdell each kicked in a two, too.

The Patriots then extended their lead, moving to 24-14 at the break on a Jordan three, Alexa Thayer and Sam Fortin twos and a pair more Hotham threes. Thayer added another two in the third, but Hotham otherwise piled up all the team’s points, contributing a three and a couple twos.

“We had an idea that they might throw zone at us,” Hotham said, asked what sort of gameplan the Patriots had for Wells, “so we worked on shots during practice. Defensively, we tried to defend their inbounds plays a little bit. Overall, we just knew we had to work hard – like we do always.”

In the fourth, the Warriors managed to keep up with G-NG, but not to surpass them – and Wells needed to surpass the Patriots in a huge way, if they hoped to come back. The Warriors did own the beginning of the quarter, and chewed away a big chunk of their deficit, but they never got closer to G-NG than, say, seven or so, and the Patriots regained their momentum as the final buzzer approached.

“We just knew that we really needed to step it up at that point,” Hotham said, of her girls’ doubling-down in the waning minutes. “Because there was still four minutes left in the game, and anything could’ve happened. It was a team effort, again; we needed to pull away and we ended up doing so.”

Beyond Hotham’s 16, Jordan finished with 11 for the Patriots. Grant had six, Thayer five, Fortin four, Mikaela Ryan two and Chelsea Davis one. Aromando logged the Warriors’ biggest afternoon, with 13.

G-NG moved to 18-2 on the win. The No. 1 Patriots’ two regular-season losses this winter came against mighty Greely, Class A South’s fiery favorite. G-NG topped Maranacook in the quarters; they face third-ranked Freeport in the Regional Final, where they also won.

The Patriots bested Wells back on Jan. 19 by a healthy margin – 30 points, 58-28.

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

Eliza Hotham shovels a pass inwards.

Bri Jordan vies in midair for a loose ball.

Eliza Hotham posted G-NG’s big score on Thursday the 21st.

Mikaela Ryan drives forward for the Patriots.

Jordan Grant is going to get points in most any game, but Wells managed to hold her to the single digits in the teams’ matchup.

Alexa Thayer battles along the perimeter for G-NG.

Sam Fortin surveys her options.