FREEPORT — Caroline Smith put her team on her back Friday evening, producing the finest game of her high school career as she led Freeport to a pivotal victory.
Smith scored a career-high 35 points and made numerous key shots and free throws to help Freeport fend off Yarmouth’s comeback bid in the fourth quarter for a 49-41 win.
The Falcons (10-2) built a 12-point halftime lead but let it slip away in an error-plagued third quarter before Smith scored 15 points in the fourth.
“Coach (Seth Farrington) got me good shots, my teammates got me the ball where I needed it, and my dribble-drive was working today,” said Smith, who also had six rebounds and three steals.
Smith started quickly with 11 points in the first quarter, including a driving bank shot that put the Falcons ahead. Freeport held an 11-8 advantage after eight minutes.
“Coming out strong helped my confidence, especially coming off some tough games,” Smith said.
With Yarmouth (7-6) turning the ball over nine times in the second quarter, the Falcons extended their lead. Freshman Mason Baker-Schlendering scored six points and Rachel Wall added four points and four rebounds, helping Freeport seize a 23-11 advantage.
The Falcons gave it all back in the third quarter, turning the ball over 13 times. Yarmouth drew even three times, the last at 30-30 on an Avery May layup. With 17.1 seconds left, Smith got a jumper to bounce in and Freeport took a two-point lead to the fourth.
“Credit to Yarmouth for those turnovers,” said Farrington. “But some of those were just us dragging pivot feet and us not valuing the possession.”
Smith answered every Yarmouth challenge in the fourth, three times driving for layups and adding nine clutch free throws to help the Falcons close it out.
“Caroline’s one of the top players in our conference,” Farrington said. “Last year, (we) had such a great team and I don’t think she got the recognition the way she should have. She’s filling the stat sheet this year. She’s the Oscar Robertson of our team.”
Freeport, which overcame 29 turnovers, also got six points from Baker-Schlendering and five from Wall.
The Clippers were led by 16 points from Hope Olson, 10 from Margaret McNeil and eight from May.
“Caroline was determined and we let her take it to us,” said Yarmouth Coach David Cousins. “We couldn’t score in the first half and we had to fight back. Caroline carried them, and we just don’t have that player right now.
“We just need to get refocused. We have a couple tough ones coming up against Cape and Wells. We just need to focus on our next game.”
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