Brunswick girls ride fast start to win at Deering

PORTLAND—Deering’s girls’ basketball team got an up-close-and-personal look at the best team in Class A South Thursday evening.

And quickly discovered just what makes the Brunswick Dragons so good.

The host Rams turned the ball over the first six times they had it and Brunswick, the reigning regional champion, made them pay, opening up an 11-4 lead after one period before going up 23-4 in the second quarter and 28-12 at halftime.

Deering, which almost sprung an upset at the Dragons earlier in the season, tried to rally in the second half, three times getting as close as 13 points, but Brunswick’s dominance on both ends of the floor was too much to overcome and the Dragons rolled to a 52-37 victory.

Seniors Dakota Shipley and Maddy Werner led the way with 18 points apiece, as Brunswick improved to 12-1 with its eighth consecutive victory, while in the process, dropping the Rams to 5-7.

“I’m very lucky to have the kids I have,” said longtime Dragons coach Sam Farrell. “Our loss to Oxford Hills really woke us up and made us play a style that fits us. Kids have stepped into roles. Our practices are awesome and you see that in games. I’m very pleased.”

The gold standard

Brunswick fell just short of a state title a year ago, losing to Lawrence in the Class A Final, 58-43.

The Dragons entered the 2023-24 season as the favorite in Class A South and haven’t disappointed.

Brunswick started with wins over host Marshwood (55-37), visiting Deering (43-39), host Kennebunk (58-30) and visiting Edward Little (47-38) before falling at home to Oxford Hills (38-28). The Dragons’ win streak then commenced with a 65-32 home victory over Westbrook. After downing host Gray-New Gloucester (42-26), Brunswick beat host Mt. Ararat (44-38), visiting Marshwood (61-43), host Westbrook (63-35), host Gardiner (63-39) and visiting Falmouth (58-23), which gave Farrell his 250th career win.

Deering, meanwhile, started with a 49-43 home loss to Freeport, then gave host Brunswick a scare in a 43-39 setback. The Rams then got in the win column at Falmouth (41-36) and again at home over rival Portland (45-39) before losing at home to powerhouse Cheverus (61-27) and at Lewiston (55-34). Deering earned its biggest win to date, 37-31, at home over Mt. Ararat, then went overtime to prevail at Kennebunk (53-46) before falling at Marshwood (55-27) and at home to Falmouth (42-41, in overtime), before holding off visiting Westbrook Monday, 31-27.

In the teams’ first meeting Dec. 12, which was the first countable contest between the squads since the 2001 Western A playoffs, the Dragons got 19 points from Shipley and held off a fourth quarter surge from the Rams, who were paced by freshman Angelina Keo’s 15 points.

Brunswick didn’t have Werner for that one, but Thursday, her presence, along with some stellar efforts from her teammates, helped make for a much easier Dragons’ victory.

Deering couldn’t hold on to the ball at the start, throwing it away and travelling on multiple occasions.

It took Brunswick a little over two minutes to take advantage with a pair of foul shots from junior Lexi Morin before a corner 3-pointer from Shipley gave the Dragons the lead for good.

With 2:48 left in the opening stanza, the Rams finally got on the board, as senior Maya Gayle made a layup after a steal.

The next time down the floor, Gayle scored on a putback to cut the deficit to 5-4, but that’s as good as it would get for the home team.

After Morin converted a contested bank shot, junior Eva Harvie drove for a layup, then senior Abrielle St. Pierre took a pass from Morin and made a layup after a Deering turnover to give Brunswick an 11-4 advantage after eight minutes.

An eight-minute stretch which witnessed a whopping 11 Rams’ giveaways.

“Turnovers have been our Achilles’ heel all year and against a team like that, it’s a wasted opportunity to at least get shots off,” lamented longtime Deering coach Mike Murphy. “They scored a flurry of points at the end of the first quarter. It was a disaster.”

The Dragons were even better at the start of the second period, as Werner hit a 3 for her first points, Morin set up Shipley for a 3 in transition, Werner scored on a putback, then Shipley took a pass from Werner and made a layup and got a feed from Morin and made another layup with 2:33 remaining for a commanding 23-4 lead.

“We played really well on the defensive end,” Farrell said. “We attacked them because it was easier to score before they got down the court. They’re a big, strong team.”

Finally, with 2:18 to go before the break, senior Shay Rosenthal banked home a shot to end a 7 minute, 52 second scoring drought and Brunswick’s backbreaking 18-0 surge.

Morin got a point back at the line, then Werner banked home a shot and after Gayle took a pass from her sister, freshman Blake Gayle, and banked home a 3-pointer, Morin countered with a layup.

Keo hit a 3 just before the horn, but that only pulled Deering within 16 points, 28-12, at halftime.

In the first half, Shipley led all scorers with 10 points, while Morin and Werner added seven points. Maya Gayle had seven for the Rams, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Deering came out strong to start the second half and threatened to get back in the game when Maya Gayle made a free throw, then Keo made a layup after a steal, but Werner drove and banked the ball home.

After senior Natalie Santiago drove for a layup and her first points to cut the deficit to 13 again, Brunswick essentially put it away, as senior Emily Doring sank a critical 3-pointer, Werner converted an old-fashioned three-point play (basket, foul, free throw) and Shipley scored on a putback to make the score 38-17 with 4:53 to go in the third quarter.

After Maya Gayle and Werner traded hoops, Keo hit a 3, Maya Gayle made a free throw and Santiago sank a pair of foul shots to cut the Dragons’ lead to 40-25 heading for the fourth period.

There, consecutive layups from Shipley (the first set up by Werner and the second by Harvie) pushed the lead back to 19.

After Blake Gayle set up Maya Gayle for another layup, Santiago provided a spark with a 3-pointer to make it 44-30 with 5:28 to play, but Werner answered with a putback and after Rosenthal scored on a runner, Werner passed to Shipley for another layup and a 48-32 advantage.

Keo countered with a free throw and Maya Gayle made a jumper with 2:52 left, cutting the deficit to 13, but a Werner putback and a Morin layup ended Brunswick’s scoring.

With 19 seconds to go, Keo hit a jumper and that brought the curtain down on the Dragons’ 52-37 victory.

“We’re definitely improving each game,” Werner said. “Our defense is just getting better and tonight, we did a great job. We pride ourselves on playing good defense every game. You can’t win a game without good defense. We communicated better today than last game. We look to each other and prioritize distributing our scoring.”

“Last time we played (Deering), we shot 23 percent from the floor, but here, we made the easy buckets early,” Farrell said. “Sometimes, it’s hard for kids to realize that 2-footers are easier than taking 20-footers.”

Werner dazzled with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

“Maddy’s just a phenomenal athlete,” Farrell said. “She’s a competitor. She’s finally healthy. She’s so unselfish. Her passes were bigger highlights than her buckets.”

Shipley also tallied 18 points, to go with nine rebounds, three assists and two steals. Morin wound up with nine points and three assists, while Doring had three points (and two steals) and Harvie (two assists) and St. Pierre (three rebounds, two steals) added two points apiece.

“It makes coaching easy when you know you don’t have to run a set for one person,” Farrell said. “I have four seniors who contribute and I haven’t had that since my first year at Brunswick. I don’t have to coach them up as much and there are really four coaches on the court. The emergence of Eva Harvie on the floor has been huge.”

Brunswick sank 4-of-5 free throws and turned the ball over 14 times.

For Deering, Maya Gayle led the way with 15 points, five blocks, four rebounds and three steals. Keo also wound up in double figures with 11 points, to go with nine rebounds and four steals. Santiago had seven points and Rosenthal contributed four.

The Rams had a 29-23 advantage on the glass and made 5-of-8 free throws, but were doomed in part by 23 turnovers.

“I was pleased with our effort the whole second half,” Murphy said “They’re just a very, very good team. They could be the best. The first time (we played Brunswick), we shot it well and took care of the ball and they didn’t have their best player. They have four all-stars. Four really good players, led by Werner and Morin and when (Shipley) is throwing it in from deep, what do you do? Do you put a big kid on her and sacrifice the low post?”

February goals

Deering, currently ranked eighth in the Class A South Heal Points standings, returns to action with three games next week, a visit to Fryeburg Academy Tuesday and home games versus Gray-New Gloucester Thursday and Kennebunk Saturday.

The Rams are hoping to not only qualify for the tournament, but to be a factor for the first time in several years.

“We have some limitations, but I love the effort from the kids,” Murphy said. “They don’t give up. I’d love to have a 20-point scorer, but we don’t. If we take care of the ball better and make quicker decisions with the ball, I think we’re a better-than-average team, but it has to be for 32 minutes.

“I’d love for the senior group to make it to the tournament. They’ve stayed with it. It has not been easy. They don’t give up and I’d love to see them rewarded. They give everything for each other. It would great to see (the Expo) floor and if we do, you never know what can happen.”

Brunswick (the top-ranked team in Class A South) returns to action Tuesday at home versus Greely. The Dragons then go to Freeport Jan. 27.

After falling just short of a title a year ago, Brunswick’s goal this winter is simple.

“Last year motivates us a lot,” said Werner. “All we want is the Gold Ball and we’re going to keep going for it. We just have to keep up our confidence and focus on our goal. That’s our motivation.”

The Dragons know that everyone is gunning for them.”

“There’s no easy games,” Farrell said. “Ararat is tough, Gray is tough. We see Fryeburg coming up. Westbrook, Deering will make noise. We’re still working on playing a complete game. I don’t know if a coach is ever happy, but we have to be better Tuesday than we were today.”