Scoring points can be pretty.
Sam Farrell, Brunswick High’s girls’ basketball coach, is most happy when his team prevents points. That’s what pleased him most Monday afternoon after the second-seeded Dragons throttled seventh-seeded Freeport, 59-16, in a Class A South quarterfinal at the Portland Expo.
“I know the girls are excited about offense, but giving up 16 points in a tournament game …,” he said. “I’ve got to look it up to see if that’s the lowest Brunswick has ever given up (in a tournament game). That’s how you measure it. After that, then you can worry about the offense.
“Still a lot of things to work on. But I’ll take that.”
Brunswick (17-2) will play sixth-seeded Greely at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Expo. Freeport finished 8-11.
The Dragons entered as a big favorite, having defeated Freeport by 27 points on Jan. 27, and they put this one away quickly. A 13-0 run turned a 4-2 game into a 17-2 runaway. It was 19-4 after one quarter – with Maddy Werner scoring 10 points – and 35-10 at the half.
That’s exactly how the Dragons wanted it. They sat in the Expo stands earlier and saw Greely take down higher-seeded Gray-New Gloucester, and were not about to allow another upset.
“I felt like we came out with a lot of energy,” said Brunswick junior forward Lexi Morin, who led the Dragons with 16 points. “We came here and watched the game before us and thought, ‘We can’t let that happen to us.’
“We’ve got to come out strong and play hard. And that’s what we did. We played as a team, as a family, and it felt amazing.”
Freeport was short-handed, as three would-be starters were on the bench because of injuries, and the Falcons couldn’t hold up against Brunswick’s 2-3 zone. The Dragons used their size, quickness and intensity to extend the zone and harass every ball handler.
“They were aggressive,” said Farrell. “One of my assistant coaches was chirping at them to be aggressive and extend (the zone). And you could see it worked.”
The Dragons had a nice offensive flow, as well, with an inside-outside game that led to a balanced attack. Werner finished with 12 points, Dakota Shipley 10 and Kyra Fortier nine.
“We’re at our best when we’re super unselfish,” said Farrell. “They were face-guarding Dakota, and that freed other kids up. When we’re unselfish, we’re hard to defend. We’re moving without the ball, and it’s a lot more fun that way.”
It was 4-2 with 5:22 left in the first quarter after Freeport’s Maddie Cormier made a short jumper. Then the Dragons took off. Morin scored on a power move. Shipley followed with a putback and completed a three-point play. Werner then scored the next eight points. Freeport, meanwhile missed five shots and had a turnover during Brunswick’s run.
“They’re a 2 seed for a reason,” said Freeport Coach Seth Farrington. “They compete real hard. They’re a tough matchup.”
Farrington said the difference was in rebounding, where Brunswick’s size and length was too much for the Falcons.
“We had opportunities,” he said. “Credit to them. We had some opportunities early. It was going to be a tall task anyway.”
Cormier led Freeport with seven points, while Abby Giroux had five.
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