Gray-New Gloucester locked down the top seed in Class B South, but Freeport made the Patriots earn it.

The Patriots outlasted the Falcons in a battle for the top spot Thursday, winning 52-43 in each team’s season finale.

“This is a game that reminded us a little bit of a tournament game in that it’s tight till the end, it isn’t pretty, but it’s whatever team seems to make a play or two more,” Gray-NG coach Mike Andreasen said.

The game featured six lead changes, but it seemed like more and it seemed like the lead was always up for grabs.

None of those lead changes came in the fourth quarter, but Freeport stayed close until the end, and even cut the lead to one point, 38- 37, when Taylor Rinaldi made a 3-pointer with less than four minutes to play.

But on the next possession, Gray-NG’s Eliza Hotham swished a trey of her own, and the Patriots held at least a four-point advantage the remainder of the game.

“That was big,” Andreasen said. “She buried it.”

“Every time it seems like they punched, we counter-punched,” he added

Also big was the Patriots’ rebounding, which led to second-chance opportunities for Gray-NG and prevented Freeport from having many.

“We did not hit the glass offensively or defensively,” Freeport coach Mike Hart said.

Gray-NG’s Jordan Grant was especially stalwart on the boards, which played a role in her game-high 26 points. The sophomore, who typically scores chunks of her points in transition, also was forced her to earn points in the post. She even suffered a bloody nose late in the first half.

“They were fronting us a lot, and I know… they were double-teaming me,” Grant said. “So sometimes we’d have to look to the other side, get it to Sam (Fortin).”

Samantha Fortin, also a sophomore, came off the bench to score eight points, including six in the second half.

“Sam did a really good job underneath tonight,” Grant said. “She had a really good game.”

Andreasen said that Gray- NG’s was thrown off by Freeport using a taller lineup than expected, and that helped the Falcons take a 16- 11 lead after one quarter. But Gray-NG, facing a bit of a gut-check, responded by holding Freeport to three second-quarter points and led 22-19 at half.

The Falcons took the lead early in the third, 25-24, on Jessie Driscoll’s three-point play.

Gray-NG took it back a few minutes later when Bri Jordan (eight points) drove for a bucket. The Patriots never lost the lead, but the Falcons never let up.

Freeport (14-4) will likely take the third seed in to the postseason.

“They played hard,” Hart said. “We just didn’t execute down the stretch, and they did a better job executing what they needed to do.”

Taylor Rinaldi hit three 3- pointers and led the Falcons with 15 points. Caroline Smith and Driscoll each scored 11.