Freeport’s Taylor Rinaldi is defended by Wells’ Mackenzie Foss on Monday night. ERIC MAXIM/Times Record
Both Freeport and Wells handled emotions of the ceremony and noise of crowd to start the game, but it was Freeport who pulled away in the second half behind its relentless full-court press to a 60-41 victory in Class B South action Monday evening.
“The atmosphere was great in here tonight,” said Wells coach Don Abbott. “I told the girls you may not get this much excitement at the Expo.”
Caroline Smith popped a 3-pointer to open the scoring a minute into the game and a putback from senior Allie Goodman gave the Falcons a quick 5-0 lead. Following a pair of baskets from Wells’ Franny Ramsdell, Smith found Jessie Driscoll underneath with a slick bounce pass for the three point lead.
Ramsdell scored the two of the next three baskets to keep even with the Falcons, 10-10 after eight minutes.
Wells jumped out to a 15-10 lead to start the second frame, but a 13-0 run by Freeport turned the lead into a 23-15 deficit.
The full-court press put on by Freeport turned things around for the Falcons.
“Coming out of the pre-game ceremonies and the emotions, I didn’t want to put the press on too early,” said Freeport coach Mike Hart. “Sometimes that could go the other way so I wanted to make sure the girls could handle it.”
The Falcons defense forced six second quarter turnovers, converting them into points on the other end.
Playing in their last home game, seniors Taylor Rinaldi, Johanna Bogue-Marlowe and Megan Cormier each joined Driscoll and Goodman with entering the scoring column in the second quarter to hold a slight four point advantage, 27-23 at the break.
“It was great to have our seniors contributing tonight,” said Hart. “Five of them have been with me all four years. To winning two games their freshman year to know, it’s quite something.”
Goodman paced Freeport with nine points while grabbing four rebounds in the first half. Along with Smith’s trey, Bogue-Marlowe, Goodman and Cormier all hit baskets from behind the arc in the opening half.
Wells’ Ramsdell led all scorers with 15 first-half points while Mackenzie Foss followed with four for the visitors.
Freeport continued much of the same full court press in the third quarter, with Wells occasionally breaking it for opportunities to penetrate the basket. Ramsdell went to the line six times in the third quarter, hitting all but one to keep Wells within striking distance.
Leading 33-29, Freeport, or better yet, Goodman and Driscoll, went on a 10-5 run to close out the quarter with a nine point lead, 43-34. Goodman poured in 10 third-quarter points while dishing out a pair of assists and snatching three boards. Driscoll added six points while hauling in three rebounds.
“They wore us down in the third quarter,” said Abbott. “We were right there in the game and then a blink, and we were down by nine.”
“Our intensity was great tonight. Our girls work hard on their defense and it came through tonight,” said Hart.
Goodman kept up her high-level play in the fourth. The senior continued to draw defenders to her, and when she wasn’t stopping to hit the short jumper, she was passing it off for the assist.
“She is becoming comfortable in the offense,” said her coach. “She is developing that short jumper when in transition, and that’s tough to defend.”
Driscoll continued her solid final home game, tallying six more points including a big offensive rebound she putback for two points and an end to the Warriors battle.
Freeport held Wells to only seven points in the final quarter and pulled away for the 19 point win.
Both teams were ready to put the game in the rearview mirror and look towards the postseason.
“Give them credit, they came to play tonight in front of the big crowd and executed on defense,” said Abbott. “We feel comfortable that we’re in the playoffs so we’ll just have to see who we draw and take it from there.”
“We have a chance to go into the tourney No. 1,” said Hart. “Everyone in that locker room wants it.”
Currently Freeport sits No. 1 in Class B South and faces No. 2 Gray-New Gloucester on Thursday at 6:30 p.m., with the winner most likely grabbing the No. 1 seed.
“We want to wrap up that No. 1 spot,” said Driscoll. “It’s something we have set our sights on.”
Ramsdell finished with a game-high 25 points. The sophomore was 7-for-8 from the line while Megan Schneider chipped in six points and six rebounds in the loss.
Goodman finished with a team-high 24 points while Driscoll finished with 16 and six boards. Goodman also had 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Rinaldi had six points and Smith and Cormier split 10 down the middle.
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