The Navigators, meanwhile, began their season with a 54-52 loss at Noble, then held off host Gray-New Gloucester (66-62), beat visiting Westbrook (70-65), eked out a 44-43 win at Marshwood, then gave longtime coach Dave Halligan his 600th career victory with a 68-42 win at Deering. After beating host Kennebunk (58-42) to close the old year, Falmouth began 2025 with wins over visiting Marshwood (54-21) and Brunswick (64-39). After Falmouth’s seven-game win streak was snapped at Scarborough (64-59), it beat host Westbrook (60-49), then scored the final six points to hand visiting Noble its first setback, 54-51. After letting a 15-point fourth quarter lead slip away in a 75-72 home loss to Windham, the Navigators got back on track Friday with a 69-48 home win over Gorham.

“We learned (from the Windham loss) to take care of the ball and when you have control of the game, you need to control the pace of the game,” Halligan said.

Last year, host Falmouth handled Greely, 72-47.

Monday, the Rangers sought their first win over the Navigators since Dec. 10, 2019 (57-52 on the road), but instead, Falmouth made it six straight in the series.

Falmouth senior Declan O’Brien and Greely senior Brogan Raftice compete for the opening tip of the Navigators’ 59-45 victory Monday. Hoffer photos.

The Rangers started fast, as senior Andrew Padgett set up teammate Owen Partridge, then Padgett banked home a shot, but the lead wouldn’t hold.

With 6:07 left in the first quarter, Birks set the tone by making a 3-pointer.

The first of many.

Senior Ethan Michaud countered with a jumper for Greely, but senior Davis Mann fed senior Declan O’Brien for a layup, then with 4:44 to go, a 3-ball from Cameron gave Falmouth its first lead.

The Rangers went back on top, 9-8, on a 3-ball from Partridge, but with 3:29 on the clock, a 3-ball from senior Tyler Simmons put the Navigators in front to stay.

O’Brien then fed Simmons for a layup and in transition, Cameron found Birks for a 3-ball to make it 16-9, forcing Greely coach Travis Seaver to call timeout.

It helped, as Cimino scored on a putback, then Cimino made two free throws, but with just 4 seconds to go, a Cameron 3 gave the Navigators a 19-13 advantage after eight minutes.

“We ran our offense the right way,” Cameron said. “I was coming off screens and they were focusing more on face-guarding (Davis and Billy), so I shot it and they were going in.”

The second period began with a layup from Cimino (set up by Padgett), but Birks countered with a 3.

After a layup from Michaud, Cameron drained a 3, then Birks drove for a layup to push the lead to double digits, 27-17.

Michaud answered with a contested jumper, but Birks rained down another 3-ball.

Michaud drove and made a layup with his left hand, but Mann sank two foul shots for his first points, then senior Ezra Hamlin scored on a leaner in the lane before Mann slammed the ball home.

A later spinner off the glass from senior Kade Ippolito ended a 14-4 Falmouth run, but the Navigators held a comfortable 36-23 lead at the half.

Birks had 14 points (with 12 of them coming behind the 3-point arc) and Cameron added three 3s in the first half to help open it up.

Falmouth extended its lead in the third quarter before Greely started to claw back.

Falmouth senior Billy Birks drives on Greely senior Andrew Padgett.

Simmons began the second half by taking a pass from Cameron and making a layup. After Ippolito set up Cimino for a layup, Simmons sank two foul shots, Birks went coast-to-coast for a layup, then a Cameron layup after a steal made the score 44-25.

Ippolito got two points back with a layup, but in transition, Birks fed Cameron for a 3 and with 3:10 on the clock, a Mann free throw produced the Navigators’ biggest lead, 48-27.

The Rangers then closed on a 9-0 run.

The rally began with a 3-ball from senior Luke O’Connor.

After Ippolito set up senior Brogan Raftice for a 3 in transition, O’Connor’s 3-ball inside the final minute pulled Greely within a dozen, 48-36, heading to the fourth period.

There, Falmouth slammed the door.

Falmouth senior Tyler Simmons knocks down a free throw.

Greely pulled within 10 just 11 seconds into the fourth, as Michaud set up Cimino for a layup.

The Rangers had a chance to draw even closer, but Birks stole the ball and raced in for a layup (Ippolito blocked the shot but was called for goaltending) to end a 4 minute, 20 second scoring drought and Greely’s 11-0 run.

Cimino countered with an old-fashioned three-point play (leaner, foul, free throw), but again, Birks came up big with a clutch 3.

With 4:12 left, Partridge set up Cimino for a layup off an inbounds set and with 2:55 to go, Partridge found Cimino again for a layup and just like that, the deficit was only eight, 53-45.

A minute later, Raftice lined up a 3 that could have made things really interesting, but it was off target.

The visitors then slammed the door, as Hamlin made two free throws with 1:03 on the clock, Cameron sank two foul shots with 27.2 seconds showing and 12 seconds later, a Birks layup after a steal slammed the door on the 59-45 victory.

“I didn’t really feel like it was that close,” Birks said. “We were taking quick shots and that’s not really our game. We just had to run our stuff and get good shots to hold them off.”

“We had to make sure we did everything the right way today and focus on the little things,” said Cameron. “I remember watching Falmouth and Greely play ever since I was a little kid. I’ve always loved playing them.”

“We got a little impatient and took quick shots and were out of position defensively, but we took a timeout and got back to what we do and we were fine,” added Halligan. “We have to get a little bit better in time and score situations. We have to make our shots we should make. If you make every foul shot and layup, you’ll win every game. I don’t care what level of basketball.”

Birks led all scorers with 23 points. He also had two steals, two blocked shots and a pair of rebounds.

“It was a lot of drive-and-kick stuff and I got some good catch-and-shoot opportunities,” Birks said. “It’s a fun gym to play in.”

Cameron, who is usually the distributor from his point guard position, went off for 16 points, to go with five rebounds and four assists.

“Jaxon is a good shooter,” Halligan said. “He hasn’t needed to do it, but he can do it. Going forward, that makes us a better team.”

Simmons added nine points (as well as a game-high 12 rebounds), Mann had five, Hamlin four and O’Brien two.

“If you take something away, you have to give something up,” Halligan said. “Other guys needed to step up and they did.”

Falmouth made 10 3-pointers to Greely’s four, sank 9-of-10 free throws and only turned the ball over eight times.

The Rangers were led by Cimino, who had 15 points. Michaud added eight points, Ippolito (11 rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots) and O’Connor both had six and Partridge tallied five (to go with four assists, three blocks and three rebounds). Partridge also played his usual stellar defense, holding Mann in check.

“I’ll tell you right now, Owen Partridge is one of the best defenders in the state,” Seaver said. “He’s shown it over and over again. He’s continued to hold teams’ best players to single digits. Davis is a great offensive player, but Owen did a great job.”

Raftice finished with three points and Padgett (three assists) had two.

Greely had a 34-27 rebounding advantage, made 3-of-5 free throws and committed 15 turnovers.

“I think we had a couple opportunities, but we just couldn’t (come back),” Seaver said. “(Falmouth) shot really, really well in the first half, especially the first quarter. Our goal is always (to give up no more than) 10 (points), but we gave up too many.

“We didn’t win, but I think we continue to show we can play with anyone. Falmouth is always a measuring stick for us. We were only a couple possessions away.”

Finishing push

Greely (third in the Class A South Heal Points standings) hopes to bounce back Friday at Freeport.

“The goal is to win every game, but the biggest goal is to make sure we’re playing our best basketball in February,” said Seaver. “I think we still have some untapped upside. We’re trying to be consistent for four quarters.”

Falmouth (second in Class A South) returns home to face Kennebunk Friday, then goes to Freeport next Monday.

“We just need to focus on the little things, practice hard,” said Cameron. “We have to keep moving forward and making progress.”

“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing,” Birks said. “We have 13 seniors. We’ve been winning for a long, long time. We’ve been playing together forever. We just have to keep working hard in practice, doing what we’ve been doing all year.”

“We’ve had a heck of a schedule and haven’t had time to prepare in-between, but now, we’ve got three days to prepare and after we play (Freeport next) Monday, we have a week to prepare, so that will be a mini-preseason for us,” Halligan added. “We expect this team to make a deep run. These guys understand that if we take care of the details, we’ll be fine.”