BOX SCORE

Greely 58 Falmouth 49

G- 10 13 14 21- 58
F- 15 8 12 14- 49

G- Obar 7-2-22, Clement 6-2-16, Delisle 4-1-9, Graiver 0-5-5, Ippolito 1-1-4, Taylor 1-0-2

F- Ginevan 10-0-22, Birks 3-2-10, Christman 3-2-8, Turgeon 2-1-5, Bynion 1-0-2, Welch 1-0-2

3-pointers:
G (9) Obar 6, Clement 2, Ippolito 1
F (4) Birks, Ginevan 2

Turnovers:
G- 11
F- 11

FTs
G: 11-17
F: 5-7

FALMOUTH—Falmouth’s girls’ basketball team is getting better by the day, but the Yachtsmen still haven’t figured out how to solve their nemesis, the Greely Rangers.

Saturday evening, in a game that oozed postseason intensity, even with no fans on site, Falmouth gave the Rangers all they could handle for three-plus quarters, but Greely excelled from long range, as well as under the basket, and was able to earn another victory.

After Rangers senior Mollie Obar hinted at a huge game to come with a game-opening 3-pointer, the Yachtsmen closed the first quarter strong and took a 15-10 lead after a late basket from sophomore standout Sloane Ginevan.

On three occasions in the second period, Ginevan scored to put Falmouth up by seven, but back roared Greely, as junior Kaiyla Delisle’s dominance in the post provided second chance after chance and senior sharpshooter Camille Clement heated up with a couple baskets just before the break to make the score 23-23 at halftime.

The Rangers went on top at the start of the third quarter when Clement, named earlier this week as a Miss Maine Basketball finalist, drained a long 3-pointer, but the Yachtsmen refused to fold and tied it up one final time on a 3-pointer from Ginevan before a putback from Delisle at the horn gave Greely the lead for good, 37-35.

In the fourth period, Obar sank two 3s, Clement made one as well and sophomore Sophia Ippolito essentially iced it with a rarely-seen four-point play and the Rangers went on to a 58-49 victory.

Obar led the way with 22 points, Clement added 16, Delisle nearly had a double-double and Greely won its sixth consecutive game, improved to 8-1 and in the process, dropped the Yachtsmen to a misleading 2-5.

“I’m really proud of the girls,” said Rangers coach Todd Flaherty. “There’s big competition between the two schools. Without a state tournament, this felt like a tournament game. They were really getting after it. Falmouth’s a good team, so that’s a good win for us.”

Playing catch-up

Falmouth and Greely were scheduled to meet at the start of the season, but a pair of games were postponed.

The Yachtsmen started with two losses to Cheverus, 73-41 at home and 51-35 in Portland, then lost twice to Portland, 51-40, at home and 43-31 away. Wednesday, Falmouth got in the win column for the first time, 50-26, over visiting Deering, then Friday, the Yachtsmen beat the Rams again, this time in Portland, 50-36.

The Rangers, meanwhile, dispatched host Westbrook (76-41) and visiting York (63-47), then lost at home to two-time defending Class AA champion Oxford Hills, 58-35. Greely then began its win streak by beating visiting Cape Elizabeth (47-27), before knocking off host Cape Elizabeth (60-42), host Gray-New Gloucester (59-32), host Edward Little (64-31) and visiting Edward Little (54-30).

Last year, Greely dominated the teams’ lone meeting, 79-41, at home.

Saturday, Falmouth hoped to end a 10-game, seven-year skid at the hands of the Rangers and beat them for the first time since Dec. 21, 2013 (53-45 at home), but instead, Greely made it 20 victories in the teams’ last 21 encounters.

But not without a heck of a fight from the Yachtsmen.

Obar got the scoring started when she made a 3-pointer just 27 seconds in, but Falmouth senior Cam Birks answered with a bank shot.

After a putback from Delisle, sophomore Anna Turgeon drove and finished with her left hand, then Turgeon gave the hosts their first lead with a bank shot.

Junior Izzy Bynion added a jumper and Turgeon set up promising freshman Maddy Christman for a layup and a 10-5 lead, capping an 8-0 run.

Obar then restored order with her second 3 of the night.

“During our shootaround before the game, I was a little iffy, but once the game started, I got my rhythm down and it started to flow,” Obar said.

Birks countered with a 3 of her own and after junior Chelsea Graiver made two free throws for Greely, Ginevan’s first points, on a baseline runner with 3.2 seconds left, made it 15-10 Yachtsmen after eight minutes.

Ginevan began the second period with a runner in the lane and the lead was seven, but Delisle countered with a bank shot and Clement scored her first point on a free throw.

Christman made two free throws for Falmouth before Delisle was fouled on an offensive rebound and made one of two free throws.

“Kaiyla’s offensive rebounds were really key to keep us in it,” Obar said.

“I had a good battle down (in the paint),” Delisle said. “(Falmouth’s) girls are strong. Rebounding is one of my strong suits.”

Midway through the second quarter, Ginevan banked home a shot and after Delisle made a layup at the other end, a Ginevan pullup runner made it 23-16 Yachtsmen with 3:44 on the clock.

Falmouth wouldn’t score the rest of the first half and for much of the third quarter, however, as Greely was able to battle back and forge a tie by halftime.

After Obar got a 3 to rattle in, Clement made a jumper, then with 26.6 seconds to go, Clement put back a miss and the game went to the break deadlocked at 23-23.

Obar led the Rangers with nine points in the first half, while Ginevan paced the Yachtsmen with seven.

Clement, who started heating up late in the second quarter, began the second half with a long 3 to give Greely its first lead since the score was 5-4.

Clement then added a pullup jumper to cap a 12-0 run.

Finally, with 4:08 to go in the third period, Ginevan made a layup to snap a 7-minute, 36-second drought.

Obar countered with a 3, but Birks made another 3 for Falmouth and Ginevan set up Christman for a short bank shot to cut the deficit to just one, 31-30.

After senior Abby Taylor made a long jumper for the Rangers, Birks made two free throws.

Obar scored a layup on the fastbreak for the visitors, but with 44.5 seconds left in the frame, Ginevan spotted up and made a game-tying 3-pointer.

Greely had the last laugh in the quarter, however, as Delisle’s putback at horn put the Rangers ahead to stay, 37-35.

Greely then finally got some separation in the final stanza, even though the Yachtsmen battled hard to the end.

Another long Clement 3 opened the quarter.

“Sloane did an excellent (defensive) job on Camille,” said Falmouth coach Dawn Armandi. “When Camille made those 3s, there were defenders in her face. It just goes to show the incredible shooter she is.”

Ginevan answered with a jumper to make it a one-possession game, 40-37, but Obar made another clutch 3 and Clement scored a layup on the fastbreak to stretch the lead to eight.

After Ginevan set up senior Lauren Welch for a layup, the Rangers made two long shots to end any Yachtsmen comeback hopes.

First, Obar drained a 3-pointer from the corner.

Then, with 4:03 to play, Ippolito sank a 3 while being fouled and she added the free throw for a four-point play to make the score 52-39.

“That was huge,” Flaherty said. “Sophia was a little down in the first half. She didn’t think she was playing well, but I advised her to hang there. That was a big shot.”

Turgeon got a point back at the line and Ginevan drove for a layup, but Graiver made a foul shot and after a Christman putback, Graiver sank two more free throws.

Ginevan drove for a layup to make it 55-46, but Clement sank one free throw and Obar made two for Greely’s final points before a Ginevan 3-ball brought the curtain down on the Rangers’ 58-49 victory.

“We knew Falmouth would give us everything they had,” said Obar. “They’re always good competition. It was definitely a team effort. Once someone gets going, everyone else pitches in. This was a great team win for us.”

“I think we all came in expecting this to be a tough game,” Delisle said. “We came in with a good mindset. To see everyone play their role was amazing. We realized we had to play as a team to beat a team as strong as (Falmouth). We just realized we’re a better team when we work together. Even when we’re down, we have to keep the winning mentality.”

“Our defense picked up after the first quarter,” Flaherty added. “(The Yachtsmen) have some girls who can shoot and we don’t match up that well with them. They’re good. They would have been one of the teams to beat this year.”

Obar, who was selected as a semifinalist for Miss Maine Basketball, led the way for Greely with 22 points, with 18 of them coming from 3-point land. She also had eight rebounds and three assists.

“Mollie is a very capable shooter and had a huge game,” Flaherty said. “She played an all-around good game. We put her defensively on Sloane and that helped. Camille gets a lot of attention and it opened things up for Mollie.”

Clement wound up with a relatively quiet 16 points, as well as four rebounds.

Delisle sparkled, scoring nine points and grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds.

“Kaiyla was tremendous today,” said Flaherty. “She’s had a couple stretches like that, but today, she was excellent the whole way.”

Graiver added five points, Ippolito had four and Taylor two.

The Rangers made nine 3-pointers, enjoyed a 39-29 advantage on the glass, hit 11-of-17 free throws and only turned the ball over 11 times.

Falmouth’s effort was sparked by the undeniable Ginevan, who had 22 points and three assists.

Birks added 10 points and four rebounds, Christman had eight points and seven boards, Turgeon five points and three assists and Bynion and Welch two points apiece.

The Yachtsmen made 5-of-7 free throws and also turned the over a respectable 11 times.

“Tonight was a full-on effort and as a coach, that’s all you want to see,” said Armandi. “We had them for three quarters. I said to the girls, ‘I’ll take credit for that loss.’ I should have pulled them out of that zone. My girls were tired. They gave so much effort out there today.

“The girls really wanted it. They know they can compete with the best and this was the best team we’ve faced. We haven’t beaten Greely in a long time and the girls wanted it. They left everything they had on the floor. We just didn’t knock down shots at the end.”

Farewell to 2021

Falmouth gets to face South Portland twice and Gorham once next week to finish its season. Monday, the Yachtsmen go to the Red Riots. They host the Rams Tuesday, then close at home against South Portland Wednesday.

“We get another good test against Gorham,” Armandi said. “It’s all about getting these kids ready for the future. It feels like the season just started. I can’t imagine where we’d be if we had a full season.”

Greely closes with three games in four days, going to Massabesic Wednesday, visiting Yarmouth Thursday, then finishing at home against the Clippers next Saturday.

“We’re just trying to be as good as possible,” Delisle said. “We’ve worked hard in practice. We focus on strengthening our skills for next year.”

“In the beginning, we had a little trouble playing as a team, but as we practiced and played more, we became more patient on offense and kept the ball moving,” Obar said. “It’s been good to get out here and play with my teammates. We hope to win the rest of our games.”

“We wanted to get better this year,” Flaherty added. “We didn’t start out that well, but I think we’re rounding into shape now and we’re playing well.”

Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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