REWARDED FOR HER AGGRESSIVENESS — Lake Region guard Kristen Huntress was awarded a pair of foul shots after this drive to the hoop against Greely's Molly Chapin. (Rivet Photos)

By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

PORTLAND — Like most teams, Lake Region’s center of attention was Ashley Storey — Greely’s talented 6-foot-plus center.

Throughout Tuesday’s quarterfinal against the third-ranked Rangers, Lake Region tried to contain Storey through double teams.

The risk is someone else is open.

That someone proved to be Isabel Porter, who scored 11 points including a pair of 3-pointers, as Greely ended Lake Region’s dominance of the West with a 45-31 victory at the Portland Expo.

The Rangers (17-2) move on to today’s semifinal against second-seed Gray-New Gloucester.

The Lakers, who had knocked Greely out of the tournament the past three seasons, closed out with an 11-8 mark.

Storey carried Greely early, scoring eight of the team’s 10 first quarter points. She finished the game with a game-high 21 points, three blocked shots and eight rebounds.

Lake Region was surgical in its passing game early, moving Greely’s zone until an open shot presented itself. Center Meghan VanLoan gave LR its first lead with a soft jumper from the lane, but the Lakers shot just 3-of-10 and trailed 10-7 after a quarter.

LR Coach Paul True knew that if his club was to upset the Rangers, they would need a strong shooting day. He felt the Lakers had good rhythm during their last meeting, but “the ball simply didn’t fall for us.”

Freshman Chandler True came off the bench to knock down a 3-pointer from the left corner to tie the game. But, the Lakers misfired the rest of the way, shooting at just a 1-for-8 clip as Greely’s defenders were able to push shooters a bit out of their typical range.

There were few second shot chances for the Lakers as Greely cleaned the glass, lead by Haley Felkel and Madison Cyr.

Porter broke the game open when she connected on back-to-back 3-pointers from the left corner midway through the second quarter. She then added a strong drive to the hoop, scoring the bucket and sinking a foul shot to give the Rangers a 21-10 lead with 1:55 left in the half.

TOUGH TO SHOOT OVER is what Laker guard CeCe Hancock discovered when she was met by Greely center Ashley Storey.

Moira Train closed out the 13-3 run with a pair of foul shots.

The Lakers never recovered from that run.

Sophomore Kristen Huntress provided a spark offensively in the third quarter, scoring inside off a nifty feed from CeCe Hancock. She then converted a steal into a pair of foul shots, and later netted a 3-pointer.

Although they were unable to put much of a dent into Greely’s lead, the Lakers continued to play with the spunk and grit they had shown all season. Sarah Hancock ripped the ball free from a Greely player along the sideline and raced the other way for a score to make it 31-23. The Lakers would get no closer.

Greely senior Haley Felkel scored the team’s first five points of the final stanza to pump the lead back to 15.

The Lakers finished out the quarter with Huntress making 3-of-4 foul shots, while Chandler True drained another trey, and Sarah Hancock scored her final high school points off an offensive rebound.

As Hancock came off the floor with 6.4 seconds left, she received a big, long hug from Coach Paul True.

An impressive run came to an end.

But, what a run it was.

Stat lines

Lakers: Sarah Hancock 9, Kristen Huntress 10, Chandler True 6, Meghan VanLoan 6.

Greely: Haley Felkel 9, Isabel Porter 11, Ashley Storey 21, Moira Train 4.

Turnovers: LR 9, GR 9

FT: LR 6-of-8, GR 11-of-12

FG: LR 11-of-39, GR 14-of-36

Rebounds: LR 17, GR 27