FREEPORT

There were just eight total points in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s girls high school basketball game between Freeport and Cape Elizabeth, and the Falcons needed far more than that.

After jumping out of the gates early, the home side went ice cold and watched a six-point lead quickly evaporate. Cape Elizabeth took advantage of just eight second half points for Freeport, capturing the Western Maine Conference road game, 38-28.

The high-flying first quarter was controlled by Freeport (7-6), which scored 17 of the frame’s 30 points and hit eight of the game’s first 11 baskets.

But Cape Elizabeth (4-9) responded promptly. The Capers started the second quarter on an 8-0 run, taking the lead from the Falcons.

“I had a substitution going in there and that second group didn’t carry the intensity that way I’d like,” Freeport coach Mike Hart said. “The intensity across the team after that was poor. We ended up falling into that same shell and didn’t get anything rolling after that.”

A Jessie Driscoll basket and Kayla Belanger free throw cut the Capers’ lead to one (21-20) before the halftime break, but Cape Elizabeth fended off all future efforts and kept the lead for the rest of the night.

“We talked about pushing the ball up the floor and creating tempo. We talked about getting out and running in transition. And we talked about in the half court getting the ball inside to some of our bigs. I felt like we had a good first half with the ball inside and ended up getting good looks because of it. We didn’t do that either,” Hart said of the second half.

The Falcons shot just 21 percent from the floor in the game, and went 3-of-28 in the second half. The typical sharp shooters Belanger and Taylor Rinaldi combined for 10 points on one trey.

“I think we all kind of just wanted to do it on our own,” junior Regan Lynch said. “We didn’t really work as a team. “The people who normally make our shots were just off. I don’t know what it was.”

On the other side, Cape Elizabeth took two less shots than Freeport, but converted 36 percent of them. The Capers only hit one free throw all night, and used post play from Maddie Bowe and Kelly O’Sullivan to generate offense. The two upperclassmen combined for 22 points, with Bowe controlling the glass and hauling in 15 rebounds.

Despite 21 turnovers in the game, the Capers closed things down in the second half, edging the Falcons 12-5 in the third quarter for a 33- 25 lead. Thirteen offensive boards led to easy put-back lay-ups, and cut into the time that Freeport had to get back into the game.

“I feel like we could have done a better job in our full court,” Hart said. “We were giving up too many lay-ups and giving up too many passes in the middle. Things that we’ve worked on several times, but we just didn’t do it tonight. Failed to execute.”

To Hart’s displeasure, much of the defensive pressure being applied to Cape Elizabeth in the second half didn’t turn into points at the other end. Quick steals often turned into rushed passes or contested shots, and gave the ball right back to the Capers.

“I felt like we forced a lot on the perimeter,” Hart said. “I feel like when we got inside, we were antsy and didn’t put the ball in the hoop. We started believing we were going to miss shots, and when you start believing you’re going to miss shots, you’re going to miss shots.”

Lynch led all Freeport scorers with 10 points (seven in the first half) and hauled in 10 boards for a double-double. The Falcons were 6-of-15 from

Cape Elizabeth 38,
Freeport 28

Monday, at Freeport High School
Cape Elizabeth — 13 8 12 5 — 38
Freeport— 17353—28
Cape Elizabeth — Allison Ingalls 1-
0-2, Jess Robicheaw 2-0-5, Carter
Harvey 3-1-7, Mo Lavallee 1-0-2,
Maddie Bowe 6-0-12, Erin O’Rourke
0-0-0, Kelly O’Sullivan 5-0-10, Jillian
Peterson 0-0-0. Totals — 18-1-38.
Freeport — Jessie Driscoll 2-0-4,
Taylor Rinaldi 1-1-3, Johanna Bogue
Marlowe 1-0-2, Regan Lynch 4-2-10,
Kayla Belanger 2-2-7, Megan Cormier
0-0-0, Jessie Wall 1-0-2. Totals —
11-5-28.
3-point field goals — (C) Jess
Robicheaw; (F) Kayla Belanger
Records — Cape Elizabeth 4-9,
Freeport 7-6
Up next for the Falcons — Friday at
Kennebunk, 7 p.m.

“I think we can learn a lot from this particular loss,” Hart said. “I didn’t like the energy and the feeling among the players. It was not a great atmosphere for us to be playing in. As a player, I always knew that whenever I had a game like that, I always wanted get back out there and play the next one to get that flavor out of your mouth. Hopefully we can do that again on Friday.”

“I think there’s parts we can learn from, but we definitely all just kind of want to move on get back in the gym,” Lynch said.

Freeport will travel to Kennebunk for a 7 p.m. game on Friday.

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