PORTLAND — There were times Wednesday’s Class A South girls high school basketball semifinal had the look of Marshwood ending Brunswick’s run to a third consecutive Class A South regional final at Cross Insurance Arena.

The Hawks battled hard, going for loose balls with reckless abandon, and held the lead for a majority of the game.

But the Dragons had that one last push, rallying for a 51-46 victory and sending second-seeded Brunswick (19-1) to Saturday’s 6 p.m. final at Cross Insurance Arena against top-ranked Greely, which defeated No. 5 Kennebunk, 67-52, in Wednesday’s second semifinal.

Trailing 45-44 with two minutes remaining in regulation, freshman Logan Brown, who spent the majority of the second half on the bench with four first-half fouls, coolly sank a 3-pointer on transition to put Brunswick ahead to stay.

From there, it was Emily Larochelle, who scored a game-high 16 points, sinking a pair at the free-throw line, and birthday girl Rosalie White coming up with a rebound among three Hawk players to finally put Marshwood away.

“We would get something going, they would hit a big shot. Then we would get something, and they would hit a big shot,” said Brunswick coach Sam Farrell of the back-and-forth fourth quarter. “(Brown) hitting that three on a fastbreak, pulling up to hit that, it was amazing. We didn’t look back after that. Every kid made a play today.”

In the early going, things were all Marshwood. The Hawks blitzed out to an 8-0 lead 1:38 in, with Alicia Richards and Natalie Herbold each swishing a 3-pointer. Farrell quickly called a timeout.

“They were a little bit shell-shocked and not matching up,” Farrell said. “I told them to bring it back to fifth-grade basketball, match up

with their voices and their hands. It is a cavern out there. Not much I can say this time of the year. They had to come out and do it.”

“Last year we were behind 9-0 (to Greely), so we wanted to get off to a quick start and something that we needed,” said Marshwood (15-5) coach Steve Freeman. “Obviously, Brunswick is a good team and they bounced back pretty quickly, but it got us into the game.”

The Dragons began pushing the ball inside, as White scored six first-quarter points, while Larochelle found her range from outside with a pair of treys and eight points as Brunswick scored 16 of the final 21 points of the opening frame for a 16-13 lead.

“We had to settle down and realize that we had to play our game. Marshwood was really quick,” said Alexis Guptill, who played big minutes after Brown picked up a pair of fouls. “I knew what I had to do, knew that I had to come in and play big because they didn’t have the height that we did.”

“They were over-playing the wing, so that was what was there,” said Farrell, who praised White and Guptill. “This was Rosie’s first time while playing varsity that she played the whole game, all 32 minutes. And Lexi came in and defended both inside and out. We are lucky to have kids who will go for all 32 minutes.”

Fouls

After an exciting first quarter, the second dragged along, as both teams were whistled for several fouls, resulting in a combined 15 free throws. Brown was whistled for two more infractions, while Celine Lawrence picked up her third for Marshwood. Richards drained her second 3-pointer, and the Hawks made 8-of-10 from the charity stripe for a 28-24 halftime lead.

“I felt like we had great momentum after they opened up on us, then there was a lull, with Logan on the bench, something we are not used to,” said Farrell.

Marshwood’s lead extended out to seven points, 36-29, when Nathalie Clavette hit a long 3-pointer with 1:47 left in the third quarter.

Brunswick closed the quarter strong, with Charlotte MacMillan scoring inside. Guptill sank a pair at the free-throw line and White finished a MacMillan pass to get the Dragons to 36-35 heading to the fourth.

Marshwood remained in the lead for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter as Angelina Bisson swished an open trey for a 41-37 edge.

Larochelle answered for Brunswick, and after Courtney Thim drove the lane for two, MacMillan completed a three-point play to tie the game, 43-43.

Larochelle gave the Dragons their first lead since the second quarter with a free throw, but Bisson scored with 2:05 remaining for the Hawks’ final advantage. Brown put home the go-ahead shot, and Marshwood committed three turnovers in the final two minutes.

“It is the first time all season that we played tentative,” Freeman said. “We have 13 seniors, but they hadn’t faced that situation at this stage. We had plays we just didn’t make before and our decision-making cost us a little bit.”

“We wanted to work together and try to get the ball to each other, both to the post then kicking out. It was a lot of fun tonight,” said White who had 15 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots.

“We have had no drama, no fighting. They really love playing with each other,” said Farrell of his Dragons. “They give so much. I have never had a team this cohesive. They have no idea of their stats. They don’t look, even though they are posted online. They don’t care. It is rare that the same girl leads us in scoring each game.”

MacMillan chipped in 11 points, five rebounds and five assists in the win, while Larochelle pulled in eight boards. Guptill dished out four assists.

For Marshwood, Bisson led with 11 points, with Clavette adding nine, Thim seven, Richards six, and Herbold and Kayla Goodwin five points each. Herbold had a team-high six rebounds, while Thim picked up four assists before fouling out with 1:14 remaining.

Brunswick shot a solid 17-of-21 from the free-throw line, with the Hawks making 10-of-14.

Now comes Greely (20-0), which defeated the Dragons at the Portland Expo on Dec. 28. 67-46. The Rangers handed Brunswick a 66-49 setback in last year’s regional final, while the Dragons defeated Greely in the 2017 A South final, 54-51.

 

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