GRAY — The Gray-New Gloucester girls basketball team kept busy during the week-and-a-half since its last game.

As the Patriots worked together, they grew together, and in their first game since a 49-38 loss to Mt. Ararat on Jan. 17, they earned a 55-21 win over Yarmouth on Tuesday.

“I think that we were just really excited to play after having a long break,” Gray-New Gloucester senior Izzy Morelli said. “I think that being able to practice, like, for a full week together, really, you know, made us connected, and we shared the ball really well.”

Gray-New Gloucester (11-3) played a controlled scrimmage against Sanford last week, but, as coach Mike Andreasen noted, that isn’t quite the same as a real game.

Andreasen said the Patriots were especially eager to play in front of their home fans for the first time since Jan. 7, when they beat Greely, 46-18.

“It was just good to see the energy,” Andreasen said. “You know, we hadn’t been home for a while, either, so it was just good to see them come out early and have a lot of energy, especially in the offensive end. Well, we struggled last time out with Mt. Ararat, scoring 38 points, so it was good, you know, just to get that monkey off our back and to go out and shoot well.”

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One of the things the Patriots worked on during the time off was their zone offense.

“We watched some film, and we were therefore able to fix some of those things, and I think that we were able to work on that in this game as well, so I think that showed,” said senior Laney Farrar, who had five points.

Morelli made seven field goals and finished with a game-high 24 points. She said Gray-New Gloucester struggled to get the ball into the paint before the break, so passing and decision making have become points of emphasis.

“Better ball movement, kids actually sharing the ball better,” Andreasen agreed.

“That’s been a little bit of an issue with us — the kids always finding an open teammate and not taking your own shots. And so that was a bigger thing. So we were really kind of underlining that. We want to see more assists in the column, which is making the extra pass, not dribbling … but finding open people.”

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Morelli and Farrar said the team is close, but the time off from games allowed the players to get to know each other better on the court.

“We’ve all been playing with each other, I mean, we had all summer,” Farrar said. “And like, we’re pretty deep into the season, but I think it’s just good, like passing, just learning each other. Throughout practice, we just continue to learn from each other as players.”

Andreasen said the Patriots also are gaining a better understanding of their individual roles.

“They get along, but I think once you’re getting over the whole role identification phase and you settle in and say, this is what I’m going to do here, whether it’s the backup quarterback or whatever the case is, and I think the kids are doing a really good job with that,” Andreasen said.

Rory Tompkins led the Clippers (7-7) with eight points.

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