CUMBERLAND — Unbeaten Greely made 23 of 30 free throws to nail down a 62-49 win over Brunswick in a Class A South boys’ basketball game Friday night.

The Rangers (3-0) took the lead for good late in the first quarter and held off the Dragons to win the first basketball game ever played between the two schools.

“We never played Brunswick before and, quite honestly, we didn’t know much about them,” Greely Coach Travis Seaver said. “We focused on trying to play our game, and it worked out for four quarters.”

It took Greely a little while to shake the Dragons (2-1).

“Defensively, in the first half, (Brunswick) did great,” Seaver said. “We tried a bunch of different things and they defended us very well. They’re tough and physical and they took us out of what we were trying to do.”

Matt McDevitt scored 20 points for the Rangers. Jordan Bagshaw, who sank 10 of 13 free throws, finished with 17 points.

Thomas Hanson and Matt Cost each scored 15 points for Brunswick.

“We really focused on taking away their perimeter tonight,” said Brunswick Coach Todd Hanson. “Based on what they did at York (an 81-67 win on Wednesday), it was bombs away, and we really wanted to guard the arc. We didn’t do anything in the paint, and they really took advantage of us, taking the ball and attacking the basket.”

The Rangers finished the first half with a 13-4 run to open a 32-22 lead. McDevitt scored 10 points during the final 21/2 minutes of the second quarter.

“The nice thing about us is we’ve got a number of guys who play really well and do lots of things,” Seaver said. “Someone is going to play well for us every night. We’ve got a lot of guys we can fall back on.”

Brunswick clawed its way back into the game by starting the second quarter with an 11-2 run.

The Dragons moved to within a point of the lead twice during the third quarter.

“I was really pleased we were able to chip away and get (their lead) down,” Hanson said, “but we expended a lot of energy and we couldn’t maintain that effort.”

Seaver added: “At one point, we were losing the quarter, 14-5, and we ended up tying it, 14-14.We did better in our shot selection and we had a couple of great defensive stops.

The Rangers held a 46-36 lead at the end of the third quarter. They gradually pulled away into a 15-point lead and cemented the win by sinking 15 of 19 free throws.

“They have a lot of pride and tradition here, so we knew it could be difficult,” Hanson said. “It’s nice to be close to home, but Greely is a real good team.”

Copy the Story Link