Freeport boys rally to stun Yarmouth in OT

YARMOUTH—Freeport’s boys’ basketball team has learned how to win.

Whether it takes 32 minutes.

Or 36.

And the Falcons are just scratching the surface of how good they can be.

Saturday afternoon, Freeport traveled to rival and recent nemesis Yarmouth and for much of the second half, a familiar script appeared to be playing out.

A Clippers’ victory.

But not this time, as the Falcons saved their best for last.

Yarmouth held a 14-12 lead after a fast first quarter, then extended it to 26-22 at the half, thanks in large part to a near double-double from senior Jack Janczuk.

The Clippers then appeared to pull away in the third period, as a layup after a steal from senior point guard Matt Gautreau pushed the lead to a dozen before a late layup from senior JT Pound pulled Freeport within 10, 46-36, heading to the final stanza.

Or what we thought would be the final quarter.

When senior Evan Hamm put back a miss 12 seconds into the fourth, Yarmouth was again up 12, but the Falcons didn’t panic and roared back. After a Pound jumper cut the deficit to 52-49, a 3-point shot from senior Max Maneikis made the score 57-54 with 2:19 left.

Then, with 1:30 to go, senior Connor Slocum buried another 3 to tie the score and when neither team could score the down the stretch, the contest went to overtime deadlocked at 57-57.

And there, the Clippers could do nothing on offense and after Maneikis hit a free throw with 1:10 left in the four-minute extra session, senior Will Maneikis drove for a layup with 21 seconds remaining and Yarmouth’s last-second desperation 3 was off to mark, allowing Freeport to earn an inspirational, confidence-building 60-57 victory.

Three different players would up in double figures as the Falcons improved to 4-1 with their second straight OT triumph and in the process, dropped the Clippers to 1-3.

“(Yarmouth) threw some great punches and we threw our biggest punch in the fourth quarter when we had to be toughest,” said Freeport coach Tyler Tracy. “We just battled. We’re comfortable in the fourth quarter this year and that’s a big difference from last year.”

Falcons have arrived

Freeport missed the playoffs last winter, as it went 5-13, but six of their losses were by seven points or less, and so far this year, those close setbacks have turned into victories.

The Falcons opened by downing visiting Noble (60-56) and host Morse (66-40). After falling at Greely (55-47), Freeport held off visiting Wells Thursday in overtime, 58-53.

Yarmouth, which won the 2022 Class B title and nearly got back to the big stage a year ago, losing to Oceanside in an overtime classic in the regional final, started this season with a 50-37 home loss to York. The Clippers then knocked off host Cape Elizabeth (65-54) before losing at Oceanside Thursday (78-67).

Last winter, Yarmouth won both meetings, beating the visiting Falcons, 62-49, and also prevailing in Freeport, 45-39.

Saturday, the Clippers hoped to make it seven straight in the series, but instead, Freeport beat Yarmouth for the first time since Feb. 1, 2020 (70-49 in Yarmouth).

And the Falcons had to rally in an unfriendly gym to make it happen.

Freeport senior Connor Slocum is defended by Yarmouth freshman Evan Oranellas during the Falcons’ come-from-behind 60-57 overtime victory Saturday. Hoffer photos.

Pound opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, but he wouldn’t find the net again in the first half.

The Clippers’ first points came courtesy senior Justin Dawes, who made a layup off a feed from Hamm, but off an inbounds set, Slocum found Max Maneikis for a layup.

After Gautreau set up Dawes for a layup, Slocum hit a leaner in traffic to make it 7-4, but the next eight points went to the home team, as Janczuk drove for a layup and his first points, Gautreau set up junior Bobby Wolff for a 3 in transition, then Janczuk drained a 3 to make it 12-7.

Junior Bryce Dwyer answered with a 3 for the Falcons, but Hamm found Wolff for a layup before a Max Maneikis jumper cut Yarmouth’s lead to 14-12 after one quarter.

The action remained end-to-end in the second period.

After Hamm scored on a contested jump shot, Will Maneikis got a hook shot to drop. Janczuk then got a pair of offensive rebounds before laying the ball home and after a 3-ball from junior Conner Smith cut the deficit to one, Dawes made a layup with 4:12 on the clock for a 20-17 advantage.

Freeport would counter, as Slocum sank a 3 to tie it, but after a nice move, Gautreau banked home a shot and Janczuk scored on a leaner and after Slocum drove for a reverse layup, Hamm got a floater to drop at the horn to make it 26-22 at the break.

Janczuk led the way for the Clippers with nine points and eight rebounds, while Slocum paced the Falcons with seven points.

Yarmouth senior Matt Gautreau tries to drive past Freeport senior Will Maneikis.

The second half began with a quick five-point Clippers’ blitz, as Gautreau set up promising freshman Evan Oranellas for a 3 in the corner, then Janczuk made two free throws.

After Smith hit a jumper, Janczuk answered with a driving layup to restore the nine-point lead, but Slocum set up Will Maneikis for a layup and off an offensive rebound Will Maneikis set up Max Maneikis for a 3 to cut the deficit to 33-29.

But Yarmouth roared back and closed the third period with six straight points, as Hamm scored on a putback, Dawes made a layup, then Hamm’s putback made it 39-29 and forced Tracy to call timeout.

Slocum stemmed the run with two free throws, but Janczuk restored the 10-point bulge with a putback.

After a Slocum foul shot, Dawes found Hamm in the corner for a 3 and after Pound answered with a floater, his first points since the first quarter, Gautreau’s steal and layup stretched the lead to 12.

Freeport got a little momentum back on a Pound layup with 26 seconds remaining, but the Clippers took a 46-36 advantage to the fourth quarter.

Yarmouth coach Ilunga Mutombo encourages the Clippers during a fourth quarter timeout.

The Clippers made it a 12-point game again when Hamm scored on a putback 12 seconds in, but the Falcons rattled off eight points in just over a minute-and-a-half to make things interesting.

First, Slocum sank a 3. Then, Will Maneikis scored on a putback before a Pound 3 with 5:41 remaining cut the deficit to 48-44.

“Setting screens helped me get open and I was able to hit some big 3s in the second half,” Pound said.

“JT’s not afraid of the big moment,” said Tracy.

Gautreau stemmed the tide by setting up Dawes for a layup, but Freeport kept fighting, as Will Maneikis set up Pound for a layup and after Gautreau drove for a layup, Slocum hit a free throw, then Pound’s jumper pulled the Falcons within 52-49 with 3:56 on the clock.

Dawes then set up junior Chris Augur for a pivotal 3, but again, Freeport countered, as Will Maneikis set up Max Maneikis for a 3-ball to make it 55-52 with 3:12 to go.

Gautreau then made it a two-possession game with a layup after a steal with 2:35 left, but that proved to be Yarmouth’s final points of the game.

Sixteen seconds later, Slocum pulled the Falcons within three again with two free throws.

After Pound missed a game-tying 3-point attempt, Slocum got the offensive rebound and with 1:30 left, Slocum got the ball back from Will Maneikis and buried a 3 to tie the score, 57-57.

The Clippers then ran the clock down to 45 seconds before taking a timeout. Yarmouth coach Ilunga Mutombo instructed his charges to milk the clock for the last shot, but with 6 seconds remaining, the Clippers turned the ball over.

That gave Freeport the chance to win it in regulation, but a desperation 3 from Slocum at the horn was short, sending the contest to overtime.

Yarmouth won the tip, but Janczuk was called for a charge on Slocum, giving the ball to the Falcons.

Dawes then blocked a shot by Max Maneikis and at the other end, Smith stole the ball.

Smith then missed a shot and Hamm got the rebound, but Dawes missed a shot and after Smith got the rebound, Max Maneikis was fouled with 1:10 to go and he missed the first free throw attempt and hit the second for Freeport’s first lead since the score was 7-6.

The Clippers never got a chance to go ahead, as Pound stole the ball, then with 21.9 seconds left, Will Maneikis drove and banked home a contested shot for a 60-57 lead.

“(The defender) was giving me my left side and I took and it and made an ugly layup,” said Maneikis.

Yarmouth would struggle to find a shot as time wound down and finally, just before the horn, Janczuk threw up a prayer from behind the arc, but it was off the mark and at 3:24 p.m., the Falcons were able to celebrate their 60-57 victory, the first time any of the current players, or Tracy, had beaten the Clippers.

Freeport celebrates its long awaited victory at the final horn.

“I thought that shot was going in,” Pound said. “It means a lot to finally beat them. Our bench helped us out a lot and our fans got our energy up.”

“The feeling from last year carried over and we remembered what it felt like to lose tight games,” said Will Maneikis. “We don’t want that to happen again. I think Connor Slocum had a bunch of big energy plays to get it to OT, then he took that charge to start it and it carried over.”

“It’s just reassurance of how tough we are,” added Tracy. “The kids are buying in. We talk about toughness every day and we define it as how do you respond when things don’t go your way? All of my guys on the floor have had big moments late in fourth quarters. The Wells game, Will had a shot to send it to overtime. Noble, Max hit a big shot. I said to them, ‘This is where we’re comfortable.’

“Yarmouth had a great game plan. They had some players step up we didn’t expect, but (Yarmouth) had blown a 12-point lead, then got a little timid in the big moment. We’ve been in big moments and good luck stopping all five of us. We were in a slugfust with Wells Thursday and they were in a track meet with Oceanside. I feel that both teams threw their best at each other for 36 minutes. You could tell both teams were tired. We just had to find a way to win.”

Slocum paced the Falcons and all scorers with 19 points and also had three steals and a pair of assists.

“Connor Slocum was just a beast,” said Tracy. “He put us on his shoulders when things weren’t going well.”

Pound added 14 points, to go with nine rebounds and two steals.

Max Maneikis had 11 points and four assists, Will Maneikis finished with eight points, seven assists and three rebounds, Smith had five points, four rebounds and four steals and Dwyer tallied three points.

Freeport turned the ball over 16 times and hit 7-of-10 free throws.

What just happened?

For Yarmouth, Janczuk led the way with 15 points, 12 rebounds and three steals.

Hamm added 13 points, nine rebounds and two assists.

Dawes also finished in double figures with 10 points, Gautreau had eight points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals, Wolff contributed five points and Augur and Oranellas each had three.

The Clippers had a 26-22 rebounding advantage, but only made 2-of-7 free throws and turned the ball over on 17 occasions.

“It’s definitely a tough one to lose,” said Mutombo. “The boys competed, but we couldn’t get over the top. We played a tough Oceanside team Thursday and I could tell today that fatigue was setting in, but we have to close out games. We took timeouts to get them in a better mental place and focused, but we have to finish games and start fast. We’ll work on that. We had some bad turnovers today. We want to be aggressive and be smart.”

Big games to come

Yarmouth takes on reigning Class A South champion Falmouth next Thursday in the holiday tournament at the Expo. The Clippers then welcome Medomak Valley in a makeup game next Saturday.

“There’s some positive glimpses,” Mutombo said.. “I’d take this team to battle any day. I love these guys and the commitment they put in. We have to keep working hard and we’ll get there. We’re capable of doing it. We have to learn how to trust each other and keep playing good team basketball.”

Freeport (which is first in the early Class A South Heal Points standings) next faces Cape Elizabeth Wednesday of next week at the Expo.

“Winning these games gives us a lot of confidence, but we can’t be cocky,” Pound said. “We still have a lot of games to go.”

“This sets a good tone for us,” said Tracy. “We’re just trying to survive and figure things out in the first month, then in January, it’s about being consistent. We know how good we are, but we’re not as good as we could be. We feel if we play well, we have a chance to win every game.”