Morse’s Haley Kirkpatrick goes up for a shot as Falmouth’s Maddy Christman defends during a Class A South quarterfinal game Monday in Portland. Eric Maxim/The Times Record
PORTLAND – For nearly three quarters, it appeared the Morse girls basketball team was going to pull off an upset.
But an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter and the hot shooting from Anna Turgeon carried No. 3 Falmouth to a 41-29 win over the No. 6 Shipbuilders in a Class A South quarterfinal Monday at the Portland Expo.
Turgeon, a junior, scored a game-high 25 points for Falmouth (14-5), which made its tournament debut after earning a bye through the preliminary round. Sloane Ginevan added seven for the victors. Dakota Shipley scored eight points and Olivia Chabot added seven to lead Morse (8-11).
“It was really nerve-racking, especially not playing in the tournament last year,” said Turgeon. “We have a ton of girls who have never played in a playoff game before, some of our starters, even. So it was super nerve-racking.”
Trailing 20-15 at the half, Falmouth out-scored Morse 11-5 in the third to take a 26-25 lead.
Morse’s Olivia Chabot (3) shoots the ball as Falmouth defenders Sloan Ginevan (1) and Justine Means catch up from behind during a Class A South quarterfinal game Monday in Portland. Eric Maxim/The Times Record
The Navigators extended the lead in the fourth with an 11-0 run. Turgeon scored 15 of her 25 points in the second half.
Morse struggled offensively in the second half, shooting 3 of 21 (14.3 percent) from the field.
“Today, we came out with a whole new strategy to try to beat their 1-3-1 (zone) and their 1-2-2,” Morse head coach Ryan Maines said. “We had good looks (offensively) with that the whole day. You can’t control (shots) going in and out. But we were able to control our heart and our effort. Every game, that’s increased and every game that’s what they delivered.”
Morse managed to take advantage of Falmouth’s shooting woes in the first half. The Navigators shot 5 of 25 (20 percent) from the field and 3 of 10 (30 percent) from the foul line.
The Shipbuilders jumped out to a 13-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and held it throughout the half.
“You could tell (Morse) they really worked hard and were ready,” Falmouth head coach Dawn Armandi said. “They played tough. They crashed the boards a lot. They’re a tough, gritty team. And they’re not little; they’re big, they’ve got some length on us.”
“We knew it would be a tough game,” Turgeon added. “They played us tough the first half of the first game we played them. We knew we couldn’t take this one lightly. They gave us a really good game.”
Falmouth won the regular season meeting, 51-30, on Feb. 2 in Bath.
Maines said the regular season and trip to the playoffs is a good building block for the Shipbuilders, who will graduate just two of their 11 players – Julia Lucas and Olivia Chabot.
“I started in the second week of October, we hit the ground running,” Maines said. “We didn’t have any time to learn each other or get to know each other. And we lost almost four full weeks, (COVID-19 protocols) and trying to make up games.
“In six weeks of learning, we have really progressed to a team that understands basketball. And the understanding is coming along with the skill level. We just have to get kids out there playing more.”
Dave Dyer – 621-5640
ddyer@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @Dave_Dyer
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