FREEPORT — The Freeport Falcons and Gray-New Gloucester Patriots met Thursday in a regular-season finale featuring two of the top girls high school basketball teams in Class B South.
The first-place Patriots buckled down in the second half, holding the third-seeded Falcons to just six points in the second half on the way to a 59-26 Western Maine Conference win.
Both teams appreciated the challenge right before the Class B South tournament begins.
“We played a good, solid game tonight after a really tough game against Cape where we won it by six,” said Gray-New Gloucester coach Mike Andreasen. “The kids kind of wanted to jump back on the court. It’s a good, really quality, well-coached team in Freeport. To end up with a pretty good win like this, we’re happy moving forward.”
“You always want to play the best,” said Freeport coach Seth Farrington. “It’s a good measuring stick right before the tournament. We’ll look at what we need to work on and get better.”
Freeport took an early lead led by the duo of Caroline Smith and Rachel Wall. Each had four points in the first four minutes. Hannah Groves beat the Patriots press up court for an easy two to put the Falcons up 10-9. Gray New Gloucester took a timeout with 3:41 remaining in the opening quarter.
“They beat our press,” said Andreasen. “Our press has been our bread and butter. They shredded it basically. We had to take the press off. Once we took the press off and got to a half-court set we looked pretty good.”
Samantha Fortin cut to the basket for two out of the timeout to give the Patriots the lead, followed by a Brianna Jordan jumper to give Gray-New Gloucester the advantage for good, closing out the quarter up 15-12.
Jordan added a pair of treys early in the second quarter, but the Falcons answered. Smith found Wall cutting to the basket for two and then added a bucket of her own on the next possession.
“It was a good first quarter, and good first few minutes of the second quarter,” said Farrington. “Then we kind of fell off.”
“Bri Jordan is one of the best defensive players around,” said Andreasen. “She had the unenviable task of having to chase Caroline Smith around. Caroline’s solid, she’s just so good. She can shoot it, she can drive, she can rebound and pass. I thought Bri did a good job with her.”
Gray-New Gloucester ended the half on a 9-0 run. Eliza Hotham knocked down a 3-pointer and followed it up with a drive inside. Eliza Hotham’s five points sparked the run that closed the half and gave the Patriots a 34-20 lead.
The second half was more of the same from the Patriots, who frustrated the Falcons with their half-court defense. The Patriots outscored the Falcons, 12-2, in the third quarter, shooting 6-for-11 from the field. Jordan Grant led a balanced attack with four points. The lead was 46-22 after three.
“I liked our energy,” said Andreasen. “I thought even when we didn’t make a good play we at least did it hard.”
Gray-New Gloucester kept up the defensive pressure in the fourth as Freeport shot 1-for-5 from the field. Wall scored five of Freeport’s six second half points. Alexa Thayer chipped in four points in the final quarter for the Patriots to cement the 59-26 victory.
“We just need to get back to who we are,” said Farrington. “Defending the ball, taking care of the basketball and we’ll go from there.”
The Patriots finished the regular season as the top team in Class B South, with a record of 16-2. Jordan, Fortin and Hotham each finished with 10 points, while Grant chipped in nine.
Freeport will likely enter the postseason as the No. 3 seed at 14-4. Wall led the Falcons with 11 points, while Smith added six.
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