One team kept the pedal down, while the other went cold, downright frigid.
The Lakers reeled off a 13-0 run to close the first half and rolled from there for a 58-38 victory.
The setback dropped the Falcons to 1-2, with a visit to Wells scheduled for Tuesday, while Lake Region improved to 2-2.
“We stopped scoring,” said Freeport coach Matt Cook, who praised the shooting of Lake Region guard Mike Triglione, who finished with a game-high 16 points, all coming in the first half. “Triglione killed off in the second quarter (14 points, including three straight 3- pointers). We knew he was going to be an issue, and after the first couple shots he hit we stopped helping off of him. He made us pay.”
Triglione’s hot shooting, along with the rest of the Lakers, turned a close game into a 12-point contest at the half (36-24), and a trey from Jake Lesure on Lake Region’s first possession of the second half completed a 16-0 run.
One key for the Lakers was the defense of Cody Gibbons on Freeport sharpshooter Chandler Birmingham. After Birmingham scored 10 points in the first quarter, Lake Region coach J.P. Yorkey switched Gibbons and Quinn Piland, a move that saw Gibbons hold Birmingham to just four points the rest of the way.
“Quinn Piland is a very good defender, but we switched and put Cody Gibbons on him and he did a great job,” said Yorkey. “Our kids are starting to understand their roles. This is a big win for us. This is our best game we have played so far.”
Hot shooting
The teams traded the lead three times in the early going, with Connor Dietrich giving the Falcons a 6-5 lead. A Triglione putback ignited an 8-0 Lakers run for a 13-6 advantage.
But, Birmingham got hot, draining back-to-back 3-pointers to draw the Falcons into a 15-15 stalemate through eight minutes.
Lake Region began kicking the ball outside to the perimeter in the second quarter, a strategy that worked well as Triglione made three straight shots for a 23-17 advantage.
Again the Falcons responded. Jack Davenport came off the Freeport bench to score seven points in the quarter, including a go-ahead layup for a 24-23 Falcons lead with 4:21 left until halftime.
That was the final positive for Freeport on this day. The Falcons missed their final nine shots of the first half, and Triglione nailed a trey to put the Lakers ahead for good. A 3-pointer by Gibbons followed, and a hoop-andharm by Triglione made for a 31-24 contest. Gibbons hit another long-range jumper to close the half.
Lake Region shot 55 percent (15 of 27) from the floor in the first stanza.
“The biggest thing are those stretches we go through. We are just not able to get good shots, and is something we need to work on,” said Cook. “Lake Region upped their defensive intensity and made some adjustments, and we just didn’t adjust with them to keep up with the flow of the game.”
Freeport’s cold shooting continued into the second half, with the Falcons scoring just four points in the third quarter (one for nine from the field, two for seven from the free-throw line), while Piland scored eight points inside to extend Lake Region’s lead to 49-28 through 24 minutes.
“Every loss is a big loss and every win is a big win,” said Cook. “We have 15 more games left and we come to practice every day and look for ways to improve. It hurts to lose, but we’ll be better for it.”
Birmingham paced Freeport with 14 points, with Dietrich and Davenport chipping in eight points apiece. The Falcons finished 14 of 52 (27 percent) from the floor and just six of 16 at the charity stripe. Davenport led the way on the glass with eight caroms.
Piland chipped in 12 points for Lake Region, with Sam Smith adding nine. The Lakers were 25 of 56 (44 percent) from the field and made two of four free throws. Lake Region held a 34-24 rebound edge, led by Piland’s nine. Lesure and Mark Williams dished out three assists each.
Lake Region 58,
Freeport 38
At Freeport High School
Lake Region — 15 21 13 9 — 58
Freeport —159410—38
Lake Region — Sam Smith 4-0-9,
Mike Triglione 6-1-16, Cody Gibbons 3-
0-7, Quinn Piland 6-0-12, Jake Lesure
2-0-5, Mike Mageles 1-0-2, Mark
Williams 1-0-2, Nick Hall 0-0-0, Adam
Faulk 2-1-5. Totals — 25-2-58.
Freeport — Mark Donahue 1-1-3, Matt
Schultheis 0-0-0, Connor Dietrich 3-2-
8, Chandler Birmingham 5-2-14, Landon Easler 2-0-5, Jack Davenport 3-1-
8, Dan Burke 0-0-0, Joe Cushman 0-0-
0, Jeremy Ketch 0-0-0, Cole Harrison
0-0-0, Brendan Qualls 0-0-0, Erick Ferreras 0-0-0. Totals — 14-6-38.
3-pointers — (LR) Smith, Triglione 3,
Gibbons, Lesure; (F) Birmingham 2,
Easler, Davenport.
Records — Lake Region 2-2, Freeport
1-2.
Next for the Falcons — Tuesday at
Wells, 7 p.m.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less