YARMOUTH — In years past, when shots weren’t falling, the Freeport High School girls basketball team might have struggled.

But after breaking through and making a run to the regional final last winter, the Falcons have learned how to weather the storm, and Tuesday evening, at rival Yarmouth, little went right for much of the game, but Freeport found a way to prevail nonetheless. And continued its strong start to the 2018-19 campaign with a 39-30 victory.

Next up for the Falcons is a Western Maine Conference test at Gray-New Gloucester on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Despite a flurry of missed layups and free throws, the Falcons went on top to stay in the first quarter on a foul shot from sophomore Rachel Wall and led, 8-5, after eight minutes.

In the second period, junior standout Caroline Smith found her stroke and helped Freeport go up by as many as eight points before taking a 20-14 advantage to the break.

In the third quarter, sophomore Catriona Gould, best known for her goal-scoring exploits on the soccer pitch, turned up the defensive intensity with several steals which led to easy baskets and the Falcons took a 29-17 lead to the fourth period.

There, after the Clippers drew within eight on a layup from junior Hope Olson, Freeport went on an 8-0 run to end all doubt.

Smith led all scorers with 18 points, Gould added seven points and seven steals and the Falcons started the season 2-0 while handing Yarmouth its first loss in two outings in the process.

“I think our defensive intensity in the second half, getting stops and rebounding, was the difference,” said Smith. “We had to stay focused and keep our heads in the game.”

New faces

The Clippers entered play Tuesday holding a 19-10 edge in the series dating to 2002, but the Falcons had won the past three meetings, including 44-35 and 46-36 decisions last winter.

This time around, each team failed to take advantage of opportunities, but eventually, Freeport did just enough to make it four consecutive victories in the series.

Neither squad could do much in the first quarter, as Yarmouth got in early foul trouble and Freeport failed to finish easy looks.

A driving layup by Smith got the scoring started 48 seconds in, but the Clippers countered with a 3-point shot from McNeil and a McNeil putback for a 5-2 lead with 6:24 to go in the opening stanza.

Yarmouth didn’t score again until the second period. After Wall scored on a putback, Wall made a free throw to tie it, then hit another with 2:59 on the clock to give the visitors the lead for good. A Smith free throw and another from freshman Baker-Schlendering made it 10-5 after one quarter.

The free throw from Baker-Schlendering came on the Clippers’ seventh foul of the period, putting Freeport in the bonus for the rest of the half.

Forty-three seconds into the new quarter, Yarmouth sophomore Calin McGonagle got a jumper to rattle around and in, snapping a seven-minute, seven-second drought, but off an inbounds set, Gould fed Smith for a layup. McGonagle got a point back at the line, but Smith hit a leaner and junior Annika Thomas buried a 3 to make it 15-8 Falcons.

The third quarter saw the Falcons go ahead by double figures. After a Smith free throw started the second half scoring, McGonagle answered with a foul shot for the hosts, but Smith made two free throws, then hit another.

After senior Clementine Blaschke made a layup after a nice move, Gould stole the ball and fed Smith for a layup, then Gould stole the ball again and finished with a layup of her own.

“Catriona might be the fastest player in Western Maine,” said Farrington. “She’s getting into her next development where she sees players on the floor. She makes bounce passes for layups.”

A Smith free throw in the waning seconds made it 29-17 Freeport after three quarters.

Yarmouth showed life early in the final stanza, as McNeil set up senior Ceanne Lyon for a layup, then Lyon fed Olson for a layup to make it an eight-point affair, but Gould hit a foul shot, junior Lindsay Routhier scored on a putback, Gould fed Wall for a layup, Gould made two foul shots and Wall added one to end all doubt, making the score, 37-21, with 4:30 to go.

“Things are going well,” Smith said. “Coach Farrington has us prepared as a group. I give a lot of credit to him.”

“We’re getting there,” Farrington added. “Our halfcourt defense is starting to come around. Every single day, these kids come to work hard. This has been a great place to coach. We’ll want to kick ourselves because of our shooting, but we won. Defense is what we hang our hat on. If you want to win in February, you have to have a defense you trust.”

Yarmouth was paced by McGonagle’s nine points. She also had eight rebounds and three steals. McNeil finished with seven points (six rebounds, three steals and two blocks), Olson had six (as well as five boards), Blaschke four (to go with 10 rebounds) and D’Appolonia and Lyon two apiece.

The Clippers committed 18 turnovers and made just 3-of-11 foul shots.

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