CUMBERLAND — Greely High’s boys’ basketball team completed one significant goal Friday night. Now it’s on to a bigger one.
The Rangers beat rival Falmouth 61-44 in front of a boisterous Senior Night crowd to complete their first unbeaten regular season since 1996-97. What they really want to do is match that team and add a state title.
“It was our last home game for our seniors and we really wanted to go out strong and take that momentum to the playoffs for us. We have a deep team. We’re committed and we want to go all the way,” said senior center Ryan Twitchell who scored 15 points and dominated the glass with 15 rebounds.
Greely (18-0) knew it would be the top seed in the Class A South regional regardless of Friday’s outcome, just as defending state champion Falmouth (13-5) knew it would stay No. 2. Greely will play a regional quarterfinal next Friday night at the Portland Expo, and Falmouth will begin its title defense the following night.
Matt McDevitt led the Rangers with 22 points. He and Twitchell combined for a 9-0 run late in the third quarter that extend Greely’s lead to 43-30. Falmouth, which never led, had trimmed its deficit to three points early in the quarter.
Falmouth was led in scoring by Colin Coyne, who finished with 11 points, all in the second half. Coyne was contained by the shadowing, physical defensive presence of Shane DeWolfe, who also got plenty of help from his teammates.
No other Falmouth player reached double figures. Freshman Michael Simonds was a bright spot, particularly in the first half, with nine points. Sam Manganello came off the bench to score seven points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer before halftime that cut Greely’s lead to 26-20.
But Falmouth struggled to score, shooting 15 for 49. In the teams’ first meeting, a 55-54 Greely win in overtime, Falmouth was repeatedly able to get to the rim for layups, in part because Greely defenders were slow to help on dribble drives.
“I thought team defense was superb. We helped out big time,” said Greely Coach Travis Seaver. “Again, that’s kind of turning the page to tournament basketball. It’s great when you can score 75 points, but there’s not going to be many tournament games where you do that.”
Sophomore guard Zack Brown also scored 15 points for Greely, including consecutive fourth-quarter 3-pointers. Brown struggled in the first meeting against Falmouth.
“I wanted to show I could play with everyone on this floor,” Brown said. “I don’t feel like I did that the first time we played them, so I wanted to step up big in this game and do what I could to help the team win.”
Since a midseason triple-overtime thriller at Yarmouth (Class B South’s top team), Greely has won nine straight by an average of 21.8 points.
“They’re the best. That’s why they’re No. 1,” Falmouth Coach Dave Halligan said. “They’ve got a lot of the pieces, both inside and outside.”
Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:
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