On paper, it might have been poor free-throw shooting and an array of 3-pointers from Old Orchard Beach that broke the Falcons’ four-game winning streak and led to just the third setback of the season.
From a coach’s perspective, though, the 44-41 Western Maine Conference loss was just a lackluster road performance.
“We weren’t ready to play” Freeport coach Mike Hart said. “That’s what really concerns me. Our heads were not here today, which is odd to me because we just had two good wins.”
Despite trailing the entire game on a cold shooting night, Freeport (8-3) had multiple chances to force overtime and/or win in the late stages. Three separate times in the fourth quarter, the Falcons were within one basket of Old Orchard Beach (5-4). With 10.5 seconds left, Freeport had the ball down two points.
A turnover on the baseline sent the Seagulls back to the free-throw line to ice the game.
“I’m guessing they scouted us because the coach was calling out, as we were playing, what we were going to do, which was frustrating.” Freeport junior guard Taylor Rinaldi said. “We kept trying to switch it up but just nothing seemed to be working.”
It was that kind of game. The Falcons got the bulk of their points inside, where OOB was often guarding the rim. Multiple missed lay-ins proved almost as costly as the charity stripe, where the visitors hit just 7-of-22 on the afternoon.
“They played good defense,” Hart said of OOB. “When we had good looks, we just didn’t make them. Just a bad night. We were 7- of-22 from the free-throw line and we missed some layups and that comes back to haunt us.”
On the other end of the floor, it was the long shot that plagued an otherwise sturdy Freeport defense. After slowly cutting into a six-point halftime deficit and holding OOB to zero points through six minutes of the third quarter, the Seagulls got the lead back in a snap with a pair of treys. Tiffany Leclair made it three in a row at the start of the fourth and just like that, the lead was double digits again.
“They had some very good shooters,” Rinaldi said. “We knew ahead of time and we still, for some reason, didn’t close out on them and they got the shots.”
“We didn’t get out on shooters,” Hart said. “We didn’t transition well, we were lazy, we just kind of watched kids shoot the ball from about six or eight feet away. You can’t do that. In the games past, we’ve done a good job closing down shooters and tonight we opted not to. It certainly is a frustrating thing for everybody.”
Energy zapped
An off day was apparent early for Hart, who quickly pulled all five of his starters from the game in the first frame, where Freeport managed just one basket. He was calling on the bench to flip the flow of the game.
“I was feeling like we didn’t have energy,” Hart said. “Sometimes I get good energy out of my second group. I wanted to change how the flow was going. We did for a little bit, but again, we missed a lay-up or two. Energy is good, but if you don’t make your shots, it’s awful. It feels bad.”
Rinaldi, who scored that lone bucket in the first frame, finished with a game-high 18 points on eight field goals. Eight of those 18 came in the fourth quarter, but like most of the Falcons on Monday, she left points at the free-throw line.
Taylor Dostie and Jessie Driscoll (six rebounds) split 12 points for Freeport, while Regan Lynch posted five points and Megan Cormier hauled in five boards.
Sophomore Samantha Donnell (11 points) splashed three treys for OOB and Leclair hit two, finishing with 10. Brianna Plante tallied eight points, Megan LaPlante (game-best 10 rebounds) split 10 points with center Maggie Strohm and guard Kaitlyn Cote snagged five rebounds.
The Seagulls converted just three free throws in the game.
Freeport will look to rebound when it hosts Fryeburg Academy on Friday at 7 p.m. before traveling back down south for a game at Cape Elizabeth on Jan. 24.
“I just asked what they would like out of the rest of the season because this is not the way we want to start our second half,” Hart said.
“It’s one bad game,” Rinaldi said. “We’ve been on a winning streak and I think we’re just going to put it behind us and move on.”
Old Orchard 44,
Freeport 41
At OOB High School
Freeport — 2 16 6 17 — 41
OOB — 10 14 8 12 — 44
Freeport — Jessie Driscoll 3-0-6,
Johanna Bogue-Marlow 0-2-2,
Megan Cormier 1-0-2, Taylor Rinaldi
8-1-18, Caroline Smith 0-2-2, Regan
Lynch 2-0-5, Taylor Dostie 2-2-6,
Catriona Gould 0-0-0, Ireland Hall 0-
0-0, Hannah Spaulding 0-0-0, Lindsay Routhier 0-0-0. Totals — 16-7-
41.
OOB — Megan Niedzwiecki 0-0-0,
Victoria Niedzwiecki 1-0-2, Maggie
Strohm 2-1-5, Samantha Donnell 4-
0-11, Emily Greenlee 1-1-3, Brianna
Plante 3-0-8, Tiffany Leclair 4-0-10,
Megan LaPlante 2-1-5, Kaitlyn Cote
0-0-0, Cierra Albert 0-0-0, Joyce
Doucette 0-0-0. Totals — 17-3-44.
3-point field goals — (F) Rinaldi,
Lynch; (O) Donnell 3, Leclair 2, Plante
2.
Records — OOB 5-4; Freeport 8-3.
Up next for the Falcons — Friday at
home against Fryeburg Academy, 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