Izzy Morelli got her celebration early. Four quarters later, the Gray-New Gloucester girls basketball team rejoiced.

Sure beats the feeling from last year.

Morelli reached 1,000 career points on her way to 21 for the game, Ella Kenney added 16 points with 10 rebounds, and the third-seeded Patriots rolled over No. 6 Kennebunk 69-32 in a Class A South quarterfinal Monday at the Portland Expo.

Gray-New Gloucester (15-4) lost as a No. 3 seed to Greely, 52-31, in the quarterfinals last year.

“It felt good, especially after last year and our performance,” Kenney said. “I think this was a great comeback, (and a) statement win, honestly. We just remembered how it felt to lose in the first round last year, so we came out guns blazing.”

Kennebunk, which made the quarterfinals for the first time since 2020, finished 12-7 in a comeback season after winning one game in 2023-24.

Morelli milestone

• Morelli entered the game needing seven points for 1,000. A pair of free throws, a jumper and a layup gave her six points in the first quarter, and with 5:18 left in the second, she was fouled attacking the basket. She made the first free throw, prompting an eruption from the Gray-New Gloucester fans who were privy to Morelli’s progress toward the milestone.

“To be honest, I tried to keep it off my mind. The most important thing today was getting a win,” Morelli said. “I had it in the back of my mind, but I really just tried to think team-first this game. If I get there, then that’s great.”

Keys to victory

• The Patriots owned the glass. With all but one Kennebunk player standing 5-foot-7 or shorter, Gray-New Gloucester jumped on the boards and outrebounded the Rams 31-14 en route to a 29-12 halftime lead.

• Gray-New Gloucester frequently gashed Kennebunk in transition, particularly in the second half. Laney Farrar and Kenney both had good passes through traffic to feed scorers on the break.

• After Kennebunk narrowed the gap to 43-30 on a Riley Ewing shot at the end of the third quarter, the Patriots outscored the Rams 26-2 in the fourth.

• Kendall Therrien, one of Class A South’s best scorers, was slowed by a first-quarter knee injury and was kept scoreless through three quarters.

“She was hurting,” Kennebunk coach Rob Sullivan said. “She was going through a lot trying to play there, which doesn’t surprise me. She’s a tough, tough kid. But it definitely slowed her down.”

Key stats

• Gray-New Gloucester: Izzy Morelli (21 points, seven rebounds), Ella Kenney (16 points, 10 rebounds), Emma Hamilton (five points, 12 rebounds)

• Kennebunk: Riley Ewing (14 points), Kendall Therrien (seven rebounds)

They said it

• “Ella’s really good at drawing those defenders, and then someone cuts to the basket and she’s able to make that pass. I think we had a lot of success with that today.” — Izzy Morelli

• “What I really like about Izzy is she didn’t look like a kid who needed to score 1,000. She passed the ball, she did good things, she found other people.” — Gray-New Gloucester coach Mike Andreasen

• “We knew we needed to hit some shots early, for our confidence and also to have to try to take away some of their (size) advantage. But the way they came out shooting the ball and the way we came out shooting the ball, that just made it a pretty uphill climb right off the bat.” — Rob Sullivan