The unbeaten Greely boys’ basketball team used a workmanlike effort to defeat undermanned Falmouth 47-26 the Class A South final Saturday night at Cross Insurance Arena.

Senior forward Ryan Twitchell pounded the offensive glass relentlessly, grabbing 11 offensive rebounds. His own rebounds led directly to 11 of his team-high 13 points, and he finished with 17 rebounds.

“It’s not about that fancy stuff. It’s about working hard every play,” Twitchell said.

Greely (21-0) will face Messalonskee (16-5) in the state final Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. Greely’s last appearance in a state final was in 1998, when it won its third Class B title in four years. Messalonskee will be making its first state championship game appearance.

Twitchell was named the regional tournament’s outstanding player.

“Ryan’s been really great for us all year, but I came to him today and really challenged him because we gave up 18 offensive boards to York the other night,” said Greely Coach Travis Seaver. “I wanted him to absolutely dominate the glass and Ryan did.”

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Matt McDevitt had 11 points for Greely. The senior standout got his team off to a quick start with four points in the opening minutes. When sophomore Zach Brown (nine points) hit an open 3-pointer, Greely was in front 10-2.

“It was a goal of ours. We wanted to come in and set the tone early,” said Seaver.

No. 2 Falmouth finishes 15-6, with three losses to Greely.

“They’re seniors on a mission and that’s a completely different animal,” Falmouth Coach Dave Halligan said of Greely. “If you’ve been here before and didn’t quite get there, then you’re going to work and not let anything get in your way. We won the whole thing last year, so we’ve been on both ends of it. We understand.”

Falmouth played without senior point guard Colin Coyne, who averaged 18.4 points per game. Coyne suffered a serious ankle sprain that involved ligament and bone damage in the regional semifinals.

Without Coyne, the defending Class A champions struggled to score.

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Freshman Michael Simonds assumed the point guard role and scored 11 points for Falmouth, which shot 27 percent (10 of 37) and made just 1 of 12 3-point attempts.

“Putting Michael into that position isn’t really fair to him, but he stepped up and did the best that he could,” Halligan said.

Greely also didn’t shoot particularly well (33 percent overall, 2 of 14 on 3-pointers), but Twitchell’s extra chances provided a comfortable cushion and guards Shane DeWolfe and Jordan Bagshaw ran an offense that committed only five turnovers.

Greely was also the top seed last year but lost in the semifinals to a physical, aggressive Brunswick squad.

“These seniors have put in a lot of time and effort,” Seaver said. “Part of that is just getting to be a tough team, and tougher players. That comes with experience and maturity, and I thought the guys did that tonight.”

CORRECTION: This story was updated on Feb. 27 at 11 a.m. to correct Messalonskee’s record.


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