Down seven late in the third quarter, Leavitt High looked for a spark. Senior forward Chantel Eells provided it.
Eells scored 10 of her 12 points in the game’s final 10 minutes and combined with sophomore forward Sophia Gilbert to lead the sixth-ranked Hornets to a 46-40 upset of third-ranked Fryeburg Academy on Monday afternoon in the Class A South girls’ basketball quarterfinals at the Portland Expo.
The two had 20 of Leavitt’s 30 second-half points and hit 5 of 6 foul shots in the final 28 seconds to secure the victory. Gilbert led Leavitt with 19 points. She and Eells each had 11 rebounds.
“This is amazing,” said Eells, the only senior on Leavitt’s roster. “I mean, senior year, I couldn’t ask for more.”
Leavitt (10-9) will play Greely in the regional semifinals at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Cross Insurance Arena. Fryeburg, which beat the Hornets twice in the regular season, finished 15-4.
The Raiders appeared to take control in the third when Julia Quinn hit two foul shots with 2:13 remaining to give Fryeburg a 29-22 lead. But Eells scored twice inside and then Gilbert hit a layup with one second left in the quarter to tie it at 30.
“I don’t think our kids ever felt they were out of that game,” said Hornets Coach Dave Gerrish. “They kept playing hard. They made some stops and we got the ball inside a little bit.”
The Hornets’ run reached 11-0, their lead peaking at 37-30 when Eells hit a long 3-pointer with 6:12 left. Fryeburg fought back, tying the game at 39 on two foul shots by Sage Boivin with 1:44 left.
But Leavitt’s Alexandra Belaire hit two foul shots with 1:29 left to regain the lead, 41-39. Fryeburg’s Bridget Bailey hit a free throw with 52.4 seconds left to pull the Raiders within a point again. Then Eells hit one foul shot with 27.3 seconds left. Leavitt’s Becca Fogg tipped the ball away to stop Fryeburg’s next possession, leading to Eells hitting two more free throws with 13.4 seconds left to make it 44-40. “I like Chantel on the line, a senior, when there’s not much time left,” said Gerrish. “Ice water.”
Fryeburg Coach Sean Watson said the Hornets did what they needed to do to win.
“Obviously Leavitt is a very talented team,” he said. “The Fryeburg girls were outcoached today. We had a hard time today dealing with some of their back-cuts and had a hard time with some of the low post to high post flashes.
“Those things are on the coach. If you don’t put your kids in position to be successful, that’s not on the kids.”
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