The students at Greely High in Cumberland Center are an athletic bunch.
This year’s Rangers already have a Class B boys state cross country championship, a Class B field hockey state crown, a Western Maine Class A girls soccer title, a girls state title in Class B indoor track, and a win in the volleyball state championship.
It’s quite a collection.
But the Rangers aren’t finished yet. They’re hoping to add a gold ball to their trophy case with a win in Friday night’s Class B girls state championship.
Greely, which beat Gorham for the Western Maine title last week, will face upstart Eastern Maine winner Camden Hills for the state crown at 7:35 at the Bangor Auditorium.
Greely lost to MDI in last year’s state title game at the Augusta Civic Center. Not only do the Rangers return several of last year’s top players, but many of the students who run cross country or play field hockey or volleyball or soccer are basketball team members, too.
“It’s like I keep saying this week, we’re hoping some of that big-game experience comes through,” Greely coach Jim Seavey said.
The Rangers also lost out in state crown bids in 1997 and 1998, but did win titles in 1983 and 1984.
Greely gained its berth in this season’s state championship by virtue of a close 49-41 win over Gorham. The Rangers scored the final eight points of the game at the free-throw line.
Senior center Abby Marstaller, a 6-footer who was an all-state volleyball player, had five of those. She led the Rangers in the tournament with an average of 13.6 points and nine rebounds per game.
Marstaller will be one of the two forwards starting in a lineup that includes three guards. Seavey considered going with a bigger lineup, but likes the way his smaller, quicker players match up with the Windjammers.
Guards Brigitte Demers, Michelle Robb, and Stephanie Ginn will also start, as will 5-10 forward Amanda Gray. After Marstaller the offense tends to be spread out among those four players, Seavey said.
Greely went 16-2 in the regular season with a 44-36 loss to Gorham and a 42-28 loss to Yarmouth in the last game before the playoffs started.
The Rangers beat York in the quarterfinal, then avenged their losses to the Clippers and the Rams in the semifinals and final, respectively.
Demers led Greely in the Western Maine championship game with 13 points, including three 3-pointers in the second half. Marstaller added 12 points, while key bench player Renee Jordan, a 5-10 forward had six. Guard Erin Cassidy has also seen a lot of playing time this year.
As for defense, the Rangers will stick with their full-court, man-to-man. Seavey hopes that intense style of play will combat the Windjammers’ defense, which has managed to stop two teams with athletic forwards – just like Greely has in Marstaller.
“Our motto is 84-32,” Seavey said. “That’s 84 feet for 32 minutes. I like to think our pressure defense is different from what they’ve seen.”
The Windjammers, who faced the Rangers in a team camp this summer, know what to expect, Camden Hills coach Jay Carlsen said after Saturday’s EM Class B final.
“They like to press you, they like to get up the floor and convert off of turnovers, just like us,” said Carlsen, who is good friends with Seavey and attended his wedding this past fall. “… They’ve got two kids with size, a little bigger than we are. Of course everybody’s bigger than we are. We’ve got short guards and short forwards.”
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