Freeport girls hold on in frentic finish to edge Yarmouth

FREEPORT—There is very little that separates the Freeport and Yarmouth girls’ basketball teams and that was borne out again in the rivals’ first meeting this winter Saturday afternoon.

A foul-plagued first half saw the visiting Clippers hold a 10-9 lead after eight minutes before the Falcons tied it, 19-19, at the break.

Five straight points from sophomore Emily Groves early in the second half put Freeport ahead to stay and the Falcons were up, 28-22, at the start of the fourth period, before consecutive 3-point shots from freshman sharpshooter Abby Giroux made it 36-24 with 4 minutes to go, seemingly putting the game away.

But Freeport wouldn’t score again and Yarmouth, which features players who have won state titles in multiple sports, didn’t quit and after senior Lauren Keaney knocked down a clutch 3, senior Cate King made a free throw with 25.8 seconds remaining and suddenly, the Clippers had a chance to complete an epic rally.

But they couldn’t get the final possession they needed, as the Falcons were able to run down the clock and hold on for a 36-34 victory.

Giroux paced Freeport with 14 points and Groves added 13, as it improved to 4-2 on the season and dropped Yarmouth to 2-3 in the process.

“I think we’re playing well,” Groves said. “We’ve played some good teams. Yarmouth gave us a good fight, but we’re playing well together.”

Always close

Freeport, which made a surprise run to the Class A South semifinals last season, started with a promising 49-43 victory at Deering, then defeated visiting Morse (73-49) before losing at home to Greely (47-40). After edging host Biddeford (45-41), the Falcons lost at Wells Thursday (51-31).

Yarmouth, meanwhile, opened with a 52-44 setback at York, then downed host Kents Hill (61-21) and beat visiting Cape Elizabeth (50-26) before losing at home to Oceanside Thursday, 55-34.

Last winter, Freeport won both meetings, 54-46 at home and 59-41 in Yarmouth.

Saturday, the Falcons made it three in a row in the series.

By the skin of their teeth.

Freeport junior Sydney Gelhar drives into the lane past Yarmouth senior Aine Powers during the Falcons’ 36-34 win Saturday. Hoffer photos.

The tone was set when Clippers senior Aine Powers drew a foul nine seconds in.

There would be many more.

Powers opened the scoring, taking a feed from King after a steal from senior Neena Panozzo and making a layup.

Freeport countered, as Groves converted an old-fashioned three-point play (layup, foul, free throw), then junior Maddie Cormier sank two free throws.

Back came Yarmouth, as Powers drove for a layup and after Giroux scored her first point at the foul line, King converted a three-point play for a 7-6 Clippers’ advantage.

After Cormier tied the score with a foul shot, Giroux sank a pair, but Powers took a pass from senior Regan Sullivan and made a layup, then a late Powers free throw gave Yarmouth a 10-9 lead after the first quarter.

Giroux made her first 3 nine seconds into the second period, but King drained two free throws, then King scored on a putback before freshman Marian Pitney gave the Clippers their biggest advantage, 15-12.

The Falcons came right back, on a putback from Cormier, a Groves free throw and two Cormier foul shots, but freshman Giselle Jabar tied it with a jumper, then senior Maya Hagerty took a pass from her freshman sister, Evangeline Hagerty, and made a layup to send the game to the break deadlocked at 19-19.

King and Powers paced Yarmouth with seven first half points apiece, while Cormier had seven for Freeport and Giroux and Groves each added six.

The Falcons then grabbed a slim advantage in the third quarter.

Freeport freshman Abby Giroux defends Yarmouth senior Neena Panozzo.

After junior Sydney Gelhar put the home team on top with a runner, Maya Hagerty scored on a putback, but Freeport went in front for good with 5:29 to go in the frame, as Groves scored on a putback.

Twelve seconds later, Groves stole the ball, made a layup with her left hand while being fouled, then added the and-one free throw.

After Maya Hagerty got a point back at the line, two Giroux free throws sent the Falcons to the fourth quarter with a 28-22 lead.

Freeport then opened up an even bigger lead midway through the final stanza, but it nearly gave it all back.

Gelhar set up Groves for a layup 11 seconds into the frame, then with 6:52 to go, Gelhar found Giroux for a 3 to make it 33-22.

“I feel pretty confident I can knock down shots,” Giroux said. “I’ve played with all these girls before and they’ve been really welcoming. They’ve taught me a lot.”

After King scored on a putback to end a 6 minute, 15 second scoring drought and a 9:13 field goal drought, Giroux came up huge again, taking another pass from Gelhar and sinking a long 3 with 4 minutes on the clock and the score was 36-24.

“We love having Abby on the team,” said Groves. “She’s stepped up and played a big role for us.”

“Abby’s going to be a good one,” said Freeport coach Seth Farrington. “She puts a lot of time in and hits some big shots.”

Yarmouth then controlled the final minutes, as Keaney drove for a layup, King got an offensive rebound, was fouled and sank both free throws, then with 1:32 on the clock, Maya Hagerty found King for a layup to cut the deficit to 36-30.

After a Falcons’ turnover, Maya Hagerty found Keaney in the corner and Keaney’s 3 tickled the twine to make it a one-score contest.

After a Giroux miss, Panozzo got the rebound, but Keaney’s bid to tie the score from behind the arc was off the mark.

The Clippers got one final chance, as King was fouled on an offensive rebound with 25.8 seconds to go and she hit one of two attempts to make it a two-point game.

Yarmouth then tried desperately to get the ball back one final time, fouling and knocking the ball out on a couple occasions that saw it stay with Freeport.

With 5 seconds remaining, the Falcons got the ball in, the Clippers knocked it loose, but no one could pick it up in time and Freeport was able to exhale and prevail, 36-34.

“It was really awesome,” said Giroux. “(Yarmouth) kept fighting and we had to keep doing what we were doing and keep playing hard.”

“We needed to stay composed and play hard,” said Groves. “Even though we had fouls called on us, they did too, so we just had to stay together.”

Giroux led Freeport with 14 points, while Groves stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, eight rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots.

Cormier wound up with seven points, a team-high 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Gelhar tallied two points and grabbed five rebounds, while dishing out four assists.

The Falcons only made 13-of-26 free throws and turned the ball over 18 times, but found a way to end up in the win column.

“We didn’t move our feet and we made bad time-and-score plays, but we got the Heal Points, so I guess that’s the plus,” Farrington said. “We stopped fouling and we rebounded a little better and had more competitive DNA and hit some shots to open it up. We don’t have the depth we’ve had in year’s past. We have to get our hands off people. We just fouled way too much.”

For Yarmouth, King had a double-double, producing 14 points and 13 rebounds. She also blocked two shots.

Powers had seven points, Maya Hagerty five (to go with five rebounds and four assists), Keaney five (as well as four rebounds), Jabar two and Pitney one.

The Clippers enjoyed a 41-38 advantage on the glass, turned the ball over 16 times and made 9-of-15 foul shots.

“I love our fighting spirit,” said Yarmouth coach Tom Panozzo. “We’re a young team, so the offense isn’t as fluid as we’d like. We have girls still recovering from illness and injury, so we weren’t full strength, but I loved how they fought. We just needed a little more time. My girls knew how to play hard at the end, but unfortunately, it just came a little too late. I thought maybe the ball went off of them at the end and we could have it, but it didn’t go that way.”

Two teams to keep an eye on

Yarmouth looks to bounce back Thursday of next week when it takes on Falmouth at the Portland Exposition Building as part of the holiday tournament at that venue. The Clippers then visit Medomak Valley in a makeup game next Saturday.

“We have to work on a little better defense and be more composed on offense,” Tom Panozzo said. “Today’s the first time we had a full squad, so we’ll find our rhythm.”

Freeport goes to Cape Elizabeth next Thursday for its 2023 finale.

“I think the kids will be excited about a couple days off to recharge the batteries and get ready for the second half push,” Farrington said.