CAPE ELIZABETH – Capers sophomore Kate Breed made mischief for the Patriots Saturday evening, Dec. 14, when she drained a distant three in the final seconds to secure a narrow victory, 61-59, for her team. The shot came after Cape controlled most of the game, only to see Gray-New Gloucester assemble an astounding rally late.

The homecourt loss is G-NG’s first of the year; they opened their season with wins over Greely and Freyburg. Cape, on the other hand, picks up their first victory, after dropping two bouts in a row, to Wells and Lake Region.

“I can’t say I thought we were going to win,” said Cape head coach Chris Roberts. “I thought we played great, right up until the end, and I think they scored 10 points off their press in…40 seconds?”

“Even though we felt we got it taken from us,” Andreasen said, “it would’ve been taken from them had we won, because they were the better team for most of the night.”

The lead changed hands numerous times in the early going. The Patriots got on the board first, with a two just over a minute in, but Cape then charged forward to go up 7-4. G-NG responded with an eight-point run, however, and regained the advantage, 12-7.

Play ping-ponged like this until finally the Capers finally wrested control away seemingly for good. A two-pointer by Hannah Sawyer gave them a 22-21 edge they spent the next two quarters building on. At the half they led 31-24, and in the mid-fourth they stood on top 56-44.

But then G-NG found an incredible groove. They pressed hard and generated steal after steal after steal; for somewhere around a minute, Cape couldn’t even inbounds the ball with much success – not without a Patriot diving between the passer and her intended recipient. Not without that Patriot swiping the ball for an easy lay-up, or shuffling it underneath to a teammate for an easy lay-up.

In that stretch of time, G-NG pressed like a ton of bricks. They forced half-a-dozen turnovers, breaking up every play Cape ran and setting the scoreboard on fire. With just over three minutes to play, they took the lead 57-56.

“We were outplayed for most of the game tonight,” said G-NG head coach Mike Andreasen, who drew a loose analogy between his girls’ comeback and the New England Patriots’ comeback versus the Cleveland Browns. “We had to have one of those fourth quarters.”

“That’s on me as a coach; we need to prepare better,” Roberts said of Cape’s sudden slide. “I have better ballhandlers than that, I have kids who make better decisions. But I also have kids I’m putting in that spot who I haven’t normally put in that spot.

“Hats off to Gray, because they clawed their way back into the game.”

Moments later, Cape’s Maddie Bowe retook the lead, 58-57, for her team, going two-for-two from the line. But the Patriots reversed the advantage again shortly thereafter, going up 59-58. With 19 seconds to play, Patriot Julia Martell stepped to the line; her first shot on one-and-one didn’t fall, however, and Cape came up with the rebound.

The Capers charged upcourt, seconds falling off the clock; when a teammate dished her the ball, Kate Breed had no time to think and no time to extend the play; she only had time to shoot. And shoot she did. Swish.

Her successful three-pointer put Cape on top, 61-59, with about three seconds to play. The Patriots had no chance to recover.

“Kate came off the bench, hadn’t played much in the second half,” Roberts said. “She’s got ice water. She’s an athlete; she’s competitive; she’s a gamer. Most kids, I don’t think, could come off the bench I think they’d turn down that shot. I knew, right when it went to her, ‘She’s going to shoot it.’”

Breed hadn’t played well all game; she stated as much, afterwards: “From sitting on the bench most of the second half, because I had a very off game, I didn’t even second-think myself, I just shot it, hoping for the best.” The game-winner was Breed’s only basket of the game.

“I find overthinking and thinking about not playing well definitely impacts my game. So the fact that I went out there and completely forgot about everything and was like, ‘This is my time’ – I just shot.”

Hannah Sawyer added 15 for the Capers, Kate Miklavic 13, and Ashley Tinsman 10. Alicia Dumont and Maria Valente both notched 16 for the Patriots.

1-2 Cape next hosts Freeport (Dec. 16, 7 p.m.), and Yarmouth (Dec. 21, 7 p.m.). 2-1 GNG travels to York (Dec. 17, 6:30 p.m.), then hosts Wells (Dec. 19, 6 p.m.).

Caper Hannah Sawyer crashes into a stalwart Patriots defender while driving for the hoop. Cape won the game on a last-second three by Sawyer’s teammate, Kate Breed.Kate Miklavic drives on the attack for Cape Elizabeth. Mikalvic added 13 points for the Capers against Gray-New Gloucester Saturday night. Gray-New Gloucester’s Skye Conley shakes off a horde of Capers defenders at home Saturday night.

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