Falmouth senior Sean Dilworth (10) signals he’s open, but junior Jack Stowell goes up for two points during the Yachtsmen’s 85-32 win over Greely Saturday night. Michael Hoffer / For The Forecaster
BOX SCORE
Falmouth 85 Greely 32
G- 9 2 11 10- 32
F- 27 18 22 18- 85
G- Cloutier 3-0-6, Giandrea 2-0-6, Hamlen 2-1-5, D. Coyne 2-0-4, Raftice 1-1-4, Walker 1-0-3, Baldacci 1-0-2, St. Hilaire 1-0-2
F- B. Coyne 9-0-21, Stowell 8-0-17, Dilworth 4-0-12, Hanrahan 5-2-12, McKee 5-0-10, Armstrong 2-3-7, Daniels 1-2-5, Ginevan 0-1-1
3-pointers:
G (4) Giandrea 2, Raftice, Walker 1
F (9) Dilworth 4, B. Coyne 3, Daniels, Stowell 1
Turnovers:
G- 23
F- 13
Free throws
G: 2-5
F: 8-11
FALMOUTH—Falmouth’s boys’ basketball team won’t be able to compete for a Class A state title this winter, during a COVID-19-abbreviated campaign with no postseason, but the Yachtsmen sure make you wonder just how special they would have been in a normal year.
Saturday evening, in its home gymnasium, Falmouth hosted longtime rival/recent nemesis Greely and in the teams’ second meeting in 24 hours, the Yachtsmen completely dominated from start to finish.
The Rangers scored the game’s first basket, but by the end of the first quarter, Falmouth was firmly in control, up, 27-9, as junior Brady Coyne scored 11 points.
The second period wasn’t any better for Greely, which was playing without three key contributors, as it went over seven minutes without a point, and by the half, the Yachtsmen enjoyed a 45-11 advantage.
Little changed in the second half, as Falmouth pushed its lead to 67-22 after three quarters before cruising to an 85-32 victory.
The Yachtsmen got a game-high 21 points from Coyne and placed four others in double figures, as junior Jack Stowell scored 17 points, senior Sean Dilworth and senior Vinnie Hanrahan both had 12 and senior Ethan McKee added 10 as they improved to 2-0 and in the process, dropped the Rangers to 0-2.
“It’s great to get out here,” Dilworth said. “I’ve been waiting forever, I love it. It was really tough, but it made us stronger in the end. We have a great team. A great group of guys. I think under normal circumstances, we could have gone all the way.”
Back to back
Falmouth and Greely are well acquainted, often meeting twice in the regular season and often playing in the tournament as well, but it’s unlikely they’ve ever met on consecutive nights before.
The Rangers, whose three-year Class A title run ended with a 59-57 semifinal round setback to York last winter, and the Yachtsmen, who also lost to York, 52-34, in last year’s tournament, in the Class A South Final, opened their respective seasons against the other Friday night in Cumberland, where Falmouth rolled, 77-47, behind Coyne’s 36 points.
That win was the Yachtsmen’s first over the Rangers since January of 2015.
Saturday, Falmouth enjoyed an even more emphatic triumph.
Greely opened the scoring 42 seconds in, as sophomore Seamus Raftice knocked down a 3-pointer, but that proved to be the Rangers’ highwater mark.
After McKee got the Yachtsmen on the board with a layup, McKee’s second layup, from Dilworth, with 6:26 to go in the first quarter, gave Falmouth the lead for good.
Coyne then heated up with a jumper and after a steal, he made a layup, and after Raftice made a foul shot for Greely, Coyne buried a 3 for an 11-4 advantage.
Junior Max Cloutier hit a jumper for the visitors, but Dilworth drained a 3, Stowell set up Hanrahan for a layup and Dilworth buried another 3.
“We talked about sharing the ball tonight and we did a good job of that,” said longtime Falmouth coach Dave Halligan. “We got the bigs involved and the outside opened up. Sean’s getting his confidence. He’s waited his turn a long time.”
Coyne set up Stowell for a layup in transition and with 49.1 seconds remaining, Coyne made a layup after a steal for a commanding 25-6 advantage. The Rangers countered when junior Joseph Giandrea made a 3, but a Coyne jumper with 2.1 seconds left gave him 11 first quarter points and put the Yachtsmen ahead, 27-9, after eight minutes.
“Being unselfish is the key for us this year, having great ball movement,” Dilworth said.
Falmouth didn’t turn the ball over once in the first period and forced Greely to give it up eight times.
The Yachtsmen weren’t as successful protecting the ball in the second quarter, but still managed to pull away, scoring the first 16 points of the frame.
After Stowell drove for a layup, Coyne knocked down a 3. Hanrahan scored his first points on a leaner, then took a pass from Dilworth on the fastbreak and made a layup for a 36-9 lead. McKee then got involved, banging home a leaner. After Dilworth set up Stowell for a fastbreak layup, Dilworth buried a 3 from the corner and the score was 43-9.
“Falmouth’s good,” said Greely coach Travis Seaver. “They have good shooters. They don’t miss. You make a mistake and they make you pay.”
With 1:13 to go before halftime, the Rangers snapped a 7-minute, 26-second scoring drought, as senior Bailey Hamlen scored with his left hand, but in the final minute, after a Dilworth steal, a layup from Coyne put the Yachtsmen on top, 45-11, at halftime.
In the first 16 minutes, Falmouth got 16 points from Coyne and nine points and seven assists from Dilworth.
Greely matched its first half point total in the third quarter, but the Yachtsmen still managed to open things up.
After Coyne started the second half with a jump shot, Cloutier answered with a jumper for the Rangers. Hanrahan then converted consecutive old-fashioned three-point plays (layup, foul and free throw) to push the lead to 40, 53-13.
“Our ball movement was great,” Dilworth said. “The bigs did a great job. They took it hard to the paint and got to the line.”
Junior Edward Baldacci made a jumper in the lane for the visitors and after Coyne made another 3, Rangers junior Dee Martin Coyne made consecutive layups to cut the deficit to 56-19.
Undaunted, Falmouth countered, as McKee made a layup, Stowell hit a jump shot and after Giandrea drained a long 3, McKee hit a short jumper, McKee set up Stowell for a layup, sophomore Judd Armstrong banked home a runner and Armstrong made a foul shot for a 67-22 advantage after three quarters.
The Yachtsmen opened the fourth period with a 3-ball from Dilworth. After Cloutier made a jump shot for the Rangers, Stowell went coast-to-coast for a layup, then made a 3 before two free throws from Armstrong extended the lead to 77-24.
After Greely junior Timothy Walker and Falmouth senior Tanner Daniels traded 3-balls, junior Andrew St. Hilaire scored on a leaner for the Rangers. Senior Grayson Ginevan made a free throw for the Yachtsmen, then Armstrong scored on a runner. After Hamlen made a layup, he hit a free throw for the Rangers’ final point before two Daniels foul shots with just over a second to go ended the scoring and punctuated Falmouth’s 85-32 victory.
“I’ve lost to Greely all three years and we finally got here and killed them both games,” said Dilworth.
“(Greely’s) not full strength,” Halligan said. “You take their best players out and it’s completely different. We talked about not caring about wins and losses. We just want to be as good as we can be.”
Brady Coyne led all scorers with 21 points. He also had six assists and three steals.
Stowell added 17 points, while Dilworth (10 rebounds, six assists and two steals) and Hanrahan (six rebounds, three assists) both had 12 points and McKee (five boards) also wound up in double figures with 10 points.
Armstrong added seven points, Daniels had five and Ginevan tallied one.
Falmouth finished with a commanding 33-12 rebounding advantage, overcame 13 turnovers and made 8-of-11 foul shots.
Greely was led by Cloutier and Giandrea, who each had six points. Hamlen finished with five, Dee Martin Coyne and Raftice had four apiece, Walker three and Baldacci and St. Hilaire each added two.
The Rangers committed 23 turnovers and made 2-of-5 free throws.
“It is what it is,” Seaver said. “We struggled last night too. It’s a tough start to the season. We’re down three seniors, all starters. I think we’re better than we’ve played. We haven’t had a lot of time in the gym. It’s pretty obvious what we need to work on. It’s better they see it in a game than me saying it in practice.”
Next step
Greely plays just once next week, hosting Fryeburg Academy Friday.
“We just want to make strides and get better every day,” Seaver said. “We’ll lick our wounds and look forward to getting back at it in practice. These kids have been waiting to play and no one likes to lose, but they’re chomping at the bit for Monday. If we could practice tomorrow, we’d practice tomorrow. They’ve missed so much. We’re just trying to get kids varsity experience. We want to give our seniors the best experience possible, they deserve that, and get our underclassmen as much experience as possible. They can just come out here and learn. We don’t have to worry about Heal Points this year.”
Falmouth will take the court twice next week, going to Cheverus Wednesday, then hosting the Stags Friday.
“We want to go undefeated,” Dilworth said. “We just want to play the game.”
“I feel badly for the seniors,” Halligan said. “They’ve worked so hard. We’ll give them the best situation we can and get some younger kids in.
“I think we would have been a top contender this year. That’s what we would have been aiming for. It’s a good group.”
Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
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