FREEPORT FORWARD Lindsay Routhier (23) turns away from Mt. Ararat’s Theresa Breed (54) during a girls high school basketball game at Freeport on Friday. The Falcons downed the Eagles, 53-39.
The Freeport High School girls basketball team didn’t have much time to think about Thursday night’s loss to Greely.
The Falcons bounced back Friday night by defeating Mt. Ararat, 53-39 in a cross conference match-up.
FREEPORT’S CAROLINE SMITH (20) looks to the basket as Mt. Ararat defender Caitlyn Smith (24) closes in. The Falcons defeated the Eagles, 53-39.
The Falcon defense forced 24 first-half turnovers en route to their seventh victory of the season in nine games.
The home team opened the contest with an 8-0 run, sparked by a Taylor Dostie trey.
“It felt good to come out tonight and get everything out of our system,” said Dostie, referring to Thursday’s tough setback. “Lately I haven’t been shooting as much as I should be and tonight I felt it.”
Mt. Ararat later answered with a 3-point basket from Lauren Sturgess and a bucket by Jaden Lohr to make it 12-7.
Freeport’s Jessie Driscoll took control to close out the quarter. The senior registered three field goals and a pair of free throws for eight points to go with her four rebounds and two steals to give Freeport an 18-9 lead through one quarter.
“It was important we came out with our press, set the tone. It’s something we’ve been working on in practice,” said Freeport guard Caroline Smith, who scored three points in the opening frame.
Defensive Falcons
The defense was only getting warmed up. The swarming press continued to create problems for the visiting Eagles. The Falcon press generated eight steals, including two more from Smith and a pair from Allie Goodman.
“Tonight they did a great job executing on defense,” said Hart. “We did some unique things tonight. We put in a zone that we typically don’t do.”
Mt. Ararat managed only one field goal in the quarter, getting four points from sophomore Theresa Breed. Freeport carried a 34-13 lead into the break. The Eagles held the advantage in rebounds, 14-11, but it was the Falcons who grabbed eight offensive boards, putting three back for six second-chance points.
Dostie led all scorers with 10 first-half points.
Smith opened the scoring in the third quarter with a long trey followed by a Goodman basket and a Dostie steal for a layup, and the Falcons had a 41-13 lead three minutes into the half.
In nearly a 10-minute span between the second and third quarters, the Falcons held Mt. Ararat to zero points, and the Eagles only tallied one field goal over 14 minutes.
The Eagles ended the quarter on a 6-2 spurt and trailed 45-20.
Each team began deploying their benches, allowing some valuable time for their young players.
“That’s total credit to our starting five,” said Hart. “It allowed us to play some of our younger kids tonight.”
“We’re young. We have a couple of great seniors (Caitlyn Smith and Sturgess), but that’s basically our team next year,” said Morris. “I was pleased with the way our girls played until the end tonight.”
The Eagles generated some offense in the final frame, scoring one less point than they had scored through three quarters. Kyla Greenleaf scored all nine of her points in the fourth, including a 3-pointer.
“That’s one thing I like about this team, we fight until the end,” said the sophomore guard. “It took us a little bit to get things going offensively, but we were still able to do some good things in the fourth.”
Breed also had a strong final quarter, securing a pair of offensive boards for putbacks and registering eight of her game-high 12 points in the fourth. The sophomore also had five rebounds.
Mt. Ararat’s three-game win streak was snapped and the Eagles are 3-8 heading into their home matchup with Lincoln Academy this upcoming Friday (7 p.m.). Sturgess finished with five points, three steals, four rebounds and a pair of assists.
Dostie and Driscoll each tallied a team- high 12 points, while Caroline Smith chipped in with 10. Driscoll had eight boards, two steals and a pair of assists.
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