FREEPORT
In a key Western Maine Conference girls basketball game plagued by helter-skelter play and numerous turnovers, Gray- New Gloucester’s defense won out in the end.
The Patriots held Freeport’s high-scoring Nina Davenport to just one fourthquarter hoop and held off the Falcons, 46-41, on Saturday.
The two teams had played the night before and this afternoon skirmish was all about unsteady play at both ends.
The Patriots made seven of 10 free throws down the stretch to hold off the Falcons, who dipped to 5-7 with their fourth straight loss. Freeport is scheduled to visit Poland on Wednesday, with the two schools holding down the final two tournament spots (Nos. 11-12) in Western Maine Class B.
Maria Valente had seven of her team’s 16 fourth-quarter points, including a 3-pointer with 4:07 left, which gave the Patriots a 39-33 lead. Valente led the win with 18 points and six rebounds, while Maggie Chaplin added 12 points and a half- dozen boards and Stephanie Greaton nine caroms.
Davenport wound up with 11 points and 13 rebounds and Leigh Wyman provided nine points and an end- to- end spark. Morgan Brown chipped in with six points and a like number of rebounds as Freeport held a 31-27 edge off the boards.
“ Both teams played last night and it looked like the second day of a two- day thing,” said Gray- New Gloucester coach Mike Andreasen. “ It was almost like survival of the team that was less mistake-prone.
“ Not having Morgan in ( back) the game at times helped us because we could focus on one big girl instead of two.
“We’re tough, but we have play 84 feet, we just can’t play halfcourt defense … we have to play the whole way. And, our kids are tough because I think in the fourth quarter I went with just five kids. We felt those kids were the most confident. I actually felt better late in the game when they had the ball because when they had the ball we were better on defense then we were on offense.”
Freeport gets up
A good-sized crowd saw a slow start, but Davenport heated up with seven firstquarter points and her free throw with 36 seconds left made for an 11-10 lead at the break.
Valente got the Patriots going with a trey with 4:30 left for a 15-15 game and her fastbreak lay-up put G-NG in the lead, 17-15.
The Falcons got their biggest lead ( 20- 17) when Wyman had five straight points, her 3-pointer with 3:10 remaining the key shot.
However, Michele Dehetre’s trey with 1:03 gave the visitors a 22-20 advantage at the break.
The Patriots (35 turnovers) were able to build up a 26-20 lead and frantic play accounted for just 17 third-quarter points. Still, a gritty Freeport unit was able to get back into it, 30-29, heading into the final quarter as Alex Mitch went coast-to-coast with 17 seconds left to cut G-NG’s lead to one.
“Morgan has a back injury and was sore from the night before so I was trying to rest her,” said Freeport coach Jen Chon. “I also felt she was 100 percent to stay up with their quickness and get up and down the floor. And, we didn’t take advantage of their turnovers unfortunately.
“We hope she can rest and get ready for Wednesday’s game. It was an ugly game and we are going through a rough patch. I am hoping we can turn it around soon.”
Freeport was four of 13 from the foul line and G-NG 10 of 13.
| WELLS | 48 |
| FREEPORT | 38 |
“I think the week off killed us,” said Chon, whose squad lost its third straight on Friday.
Wells (8-4) jumped out to a 12-7 first-quarter lead, but the Falcons battled back to within one point, 23-22, at the half. But, the Warriors extended their lead to 11, 42-31, through 24 minutes.
Davenport paced Freeport with 18 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. Ashley Richardson chipped in seven points, and Wyman added five points, six caroms, six steals and three blocked shots.
“We couldn’t hit a basket, and we were 15 of 60 (25 percent) from the field,” added Chon.
Mariyah Heath and Alison Furness led Wells with 13 points each, with Jeni Wallingford adding eight points.
Gray-NG 46,
Freeport 41
| G-NG | 10 | 12 | 8 | 16 | — | 46 |
| Freeport | 11 | 9 | 9 | 12 | — | 41 |
G-NG (46)
Maggie Chaplin 6-0-12, Grace Fergeson 0- 0- 0, Julia Martell 0- 0- 0,
Stephanie Greaton 1-0-2, Michele
Dehetre 1-0-3, Maria Valente 6-4-18,
Leandra Grant 0-0-0, Sammie Wilkins
2-0-4, Hayley Cote 1-5-7.
Freeport (41)
Alex Mitch 1-2-4, Ashley Richardson
2-0-4, Nina Davenport 5-1-11, Hannah
Chase 1-1-3, Jocelyn Davee 2-0-4,
Leigh Wyman 4-0-9, Morgan Brown
3-0-6.
3-point field goals — (GNG) Valente
(2), Dehetre; (F) Wyman.
Records — GNG 6-7, Freeport 5-7.
Up next for Freeport — At Poland on
Wednesday.
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