Freeport dazzled Spruce Mountain in the third quarter, slowed the game down to a walk in fourth, and for an encore, the Falcons cut the pesky Phoenix loose with a 49-47 non-conference victory in a girls high school basketball game Thursday.

Coach Mike Hart collected his 100th career win (Morse and Freeport combined) thanks to a clutch performance by freshman guard Caroline Smith.

“We were up and down. We were a roller coaster tonight,” Hart said. “We came out and had some really good moments, but we made some foolish turnovers. But, you know, overall, I was down two kids — one starter and a kid who is key off the bench. They played through that. That’s great.”

Smith scored four key points in the last couple of minutes of a tight game to give the Falcons (2-1) the upper hand. She scored one basket on a quick baseline shot and went underneath for another two of her 10 points.

“She was big,” Hart said, whose Falcons host Sacopee Valley on Tuesday at 7 p.m. “She has been a wonderful addition to the team. I mean, she gets a bit of the freshman jitters like they all do. She played very heady. I played her a lot in that second half.”

Freeport out-muscled the Phoenix (1-2) in the third quarter with key rebounds and a strong defense. The Falcons held Spruce to 12 points.

But the Phoenix got back in the game in the fourth quarter when Haley Turcotte landed a 3-pointer and senior guard Alex Bessey went on the attack and scored five points with the help of a three-point play to tie the game, 44-44. She also made a key block.

Smith used her baseline jumper to put the Falcons ahead by two again. But Spruce sophomore guard Julianne Dorion drew a foul and sank two free throws with ease to tie it again.

That didn’t last long. Smith came up with another two points to put the Falcons ahead 48-46. Bessey was fouled and hit one of two free throws, but the Falcons’ Taylor Dostie drew a foul and hit a free throw to make it 49-47.

“They beat us with effort. They played harder than we did,” Spruce Mountain coach Zach Keene said. “They made more plays than we did, and they won the game. That’s pretty much what it came down to. The way they played bothered us and it showed in the third quarter. They played well. They played hard. We just need to have a better effort, moving forward.”

For the day, Bessey and Turcotte each scored 20 points for the Phoenix.

Freeport junior guard Taylor Rinaldi scored a team-high 15 points and Johanna Bogue Marlow added 10.

The Phoenix led at halftime 24-20 before Freeport’s second-half uprising.