Tonight, the State Class A Championship will be contested at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, as Greely faces Hampden Academy at 6 p.m., while the State Class B title game takes place at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor Friday night, with Lake Region meeting Winslow at 7 p.m.
The losses by Freeport and Brunswick stung. No doubt! However, when looking back at where these two teams came from, it is amazing to think that we were all one game away from seeing the Falcons and Dragons competing for a state title.
Freeport
Let’s look at Freeport first. Mike Hart, yes, that Mike Hart who coached the Morse girls to several solid seasons not too long ago, started his Falcons career with a 2-16 record four seasons ago. Then freshmen Jessie Driscoll, Joanna Bogue-Marlowe, Megan Cormier, Taylor Rinaldi and Taylor Dostie were in the program back then, hoping one day to turn this program into a winner.
Over the next two years, Hart’s team showed improvement, making it to the Class B South tournament. Last year, Freeport knocked off Lisbon in a home preliminary matchup, then fell to Gray-New Gloucester for the second straight season in the quarterfinals at the Portland Expo.
Then came the 2017/18 season. Joining that now senior group of players was Pine Tree Academy standout Allie Goodman, a player that was the heart and soul of the Breakers. Faced with an always difficult Western Maine Conference schedule, along with a few challenging crossover games, Freeport found “it.”
What is “it” you ask? “It” is that special something, a feel, a vibe that runs through a team, where each of the players just know that this is going to be their season.
“There was a level of familiarity, along with a high level of confidence,” said Hart. “They believed coming into the season that they could achieve something great, believed that Freeport could be at the top of Class B.”
Hart’s Falcons went 14-4 during the regular season, good for the No. 3 spot in Class B South. Freeport actually had a chance at the top seed, but a loss to that troublesome Gray-New Gloucester squad in the regular season finale dropped the Falcons down a couple spots, setting up a quarterfinal matchup with No. 6 Wells at the Expo.
Facing the always tough and well-coached Warriors, the Falcons hung together, holding on for a 46-42 victory and a trip to Cross Insurance Arena for the semifinals. The quarterfinal win was the program’s first since the State Class C Championship team of 1976, led by Maine Hall of Famer Barbara Krause. Hart felt his team’s competition in the WMC allowed the Falcons to be prepared for the tournament this time around.
“The WMC is good preparation for the tournament, and the kids know that every single day that they have to fight hard to win a game,” said Hart, whose squad defeated No. 2 Poland, 40-38 in the semifinals. “The teams in this conference are all well-coached and they get their kids ready to play. Our kids embraced those challenges.
“These kids realized that 41 Freeport teams before them failed to achieve a tournament win. We look at those banners in our gymnasium during the summer months, and there is a not a great basketball history here. We talked about being ‘that’ team, and the kids embraced it.”
Despite this success, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room after Saturday’s loss to the Lakers, a sign of how much this Falcons team wanted that elusive state title. Hart discussed the legacy that this year’s team has left for the youth that will eventually land in Freeport in the coming years.
“The turnaround they have made for Freeport is amazing,” Hart said. “We have a lot of kids living in Freeport/Durham that will be part of this program. Next year we might have 40 kids here. Without this team, we might not have that. It was quite an achievement this season, just a fantastic season.”
Tom Maines
Legendary former Morse High School boys coach Tom Maines was at the regional final games on Saturday.
One might say he was “checking in” with one, or two, of his former players, young men who played for the Shipbuilders in the late 80s and early 90s under Maines that were now leading their teams into battle.
Hart played for Maines, along with Greely girls head man Todd Flaherty and Boothbay girls basketball leader Brian Blethen.
What a group these three have become. Flaherty will lead his Rangers into tonight’s Class A title game, while both Hart and Blethen coached their teams all the way to the regional finals, with Blethen’s squad falling to Monmouth Academy in the Class C South regional final in Augusta.
“Coach has always been available for us whenever we’ve needed a sounding board,” said Hart.
Brunswick
From the moment last year’s State Class A championship game ended with a loss to Messalonskee, Sam Farrell’s Dragons went to work.
Gone from the program were talented athletes Brooke Barter and Madeline Suhr. However, the talent returning to the program was huge, led by senior Sabrina Armstrong, juniors Charlotte MacMillan and Rian Sachs, and sophomore Alexis Guptill. There was a strong bench, players like MacKenzie Burrows, Emily Larochelle and Rosalie White back in the fold, and there was a talented newcomer in junior Marley Groat, a player that we didn’t know much about in the beginning of the season who soon turned out to be the glue that held the Dragons together.
“Coaching this team was one of the most satisfying and fun years of my career,” Farrell said. “I really expected us to need time to gel, but instead they came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. They had such high expectations of themselves, of their coaches, and each other. Every day, I looked forward to practice, maybe more than any other year.”
The season began with a big bang, an 88-17 win over rival Morse, and Brunswick took off from there, rolling out 18 wins against zero losses in a regular season to remember. There were a few close games where the Dragons had to dig down deep, rallying for wins against Lawrence, Greely and Edward Little. When push came to shove, there were few teams in the state that played the type of defense the Dragons brought on most nights, with Brunswick holding opponents in the low 30s on average.
“This team was probably the most diverse and best defensive teams I’ve ever had,” said Farrell. “They could play any defense and be successful. Man press, zone traps, half-court man, junk defenses, we played them all. They loved playing defense, and our game was to make the other team uncomfortable and I think we were successful at that.”
Fans never knew who was going to step up on a given night. One game it might have been Armstrong, then Groat, who hit a buzzer-beating shot to down Greely during the regular season. MacMillan had her moments of leading the Dragons on the scoresheet, while Guptill and Sachs were the defensive backbones.
“Also, it seemed like we always had somebody step up. It could have been one of our leading scorers, Sabrina, Marley, or Charlotte who had a big night. Maybe Rian or Lexie made the big play. Emily Larochelle, Mackenzie Burrows, or Rosalie White coming off the bench could be the spark we needed,” said Farrell. “Even freshman Hannah Fortier gave us important minutes when called upon. But what isn’t seen in the stat line or in newspapers is the work all the girls put in during practice. Holly Black played such a huge role for this team, and all the other girls were so important to making us tick. When every player understands and embraces their role, you have a special team.”
Once the tournament began, Brunswick continued being that strong defensive team, rolling to wins over Falmouth (74-25) and York (52-23), setting up a rematch in the regional final against Greely.
Last year, it was the Dragons who came out on top at Cross Insurance Arena.
Greely had its revenge on Saturday, handing Brunswick its only loss. It was a tough way to end things, but it was still a Brunswick girls basketball season that will go down as one of the best in the history of the program.
And, the future looks bright.
“The future should be promising for us,” said Farrell. “We return four starters and some of the young players really improved a ton. Give them a year to get stronger, to learn the game a bit more, and to adjust to new roles, and I see them making huge strides.
“We have such a committed group of young ladies returning on varsity and jayvee teams, as well as on the eighth-grade team, I know we can continue our success in the league.
“If you ask the girls which word I say more than any other during practice, they would all say ‘WORK!’ As long as they keep working, I know we can be successful.”
There were other successes this season — the Richmond boys and girls played tough Mountain Valley Conference slates this year and used it to advance to the Class C South semifinals. Both Zach Small and Sydney Underhill-Tilton sprinted past the 1,000-point career mark this year. … Todd Hanson’s Brunswick boys began the season with a nearly new starting lineup after losing a ton to graduation. Still, the Dragons reeled off 12 hard-fought wins and pushed No. 2 Biddeford to the buzzer in the Class A South quarterfinals at the Portland Expo. … Morse, under first-year coach Jan Veinot, qualified for the Class A South postseason. …. The Lisbon boys needed a win in its final regular season game to get into the playoffs and did it. And, standout Jonah Sautter eclipsed 1,000 career points this year. … And last but certainly not least, the Freeport boys, a squad that failed to win a game not too long ago, made the tournament and pushed top-seeded Wells in the quarterfinals before falling, 52-45, had a season to remember and will hopefully serve as a solid building block for the future.
BOB CONN is The Times Record sports editor. He can be reached at bconn@timesrecord.com.
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