On Monday, the Shipbuilders began the second half with a much-needed victory, with Freeman leading the way in a 53-46 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference victory over rival Mt. Ararat.
Freeman had 26 points, including 11 in a big Morse third quarter as the Shipbuilders extended their seven-point halftime lead into a 15-point edge.
“Dakota was stuck at the bottom of the zone on our 1- 3-1, and that was hindering the offense,” said Morse (2-8) coach Brian Bennett. “Moving up top, and leading the transition, made a difference tonight.”
“We made a defensive adjustment, where I was put at the top of the zone and I was able to finish at the basket,” said Freeman. “We needed to think stuff through, slow it down, be aggressive on defense and rebound. We did that. We did a good job boxing out tonight.”
A key run came late in the second quarter and carried into the third. A 6-0 spurt closed the first half for a 26- 19 Shipbuilders lead, and Freeman led a 13-2 run to open the second half for a 39-21 advantage.
Mt. Ararat, behind eight second-half points from freshman Caleb Manuel made a run, with Manuel draining two 3-pointers. Despite 10 players scoring at least three points, the Eagles ran out of time.
“We have a lot of young kids,” said Mt. Ararat coach Steve Cox, whose Eagles travel to Lewiston on Thursday at 7 p.m. “We make sophomore mistakes, and we have a lot of sophomores on the court now.”
Mt. Ararat (2-7) worked hard to pick up rebounds, grabbing eight offensive boards in the third quarter. But, a 4-of-23 shooting performance in the frame cost the Eagles.
“The goal is to put the ball in the hoop, and we are just not doing that,” said Cox, after watching his team make just 18-of-61 from the floor. “It is frustrating, but we have a large part of our lineup in street clothes right now (Cam Cox, Tanner Greenleaf, Nick Merrill), and we are just not sure when they are coming back.”
Bennett liked his team’s resolve in earning their second victory, but was concerned with the turnovers and a lackadaisical final quarter that saw the Eagles cut a 17-point deficit (48-31) down to just seven late in regulation.
“We love the win tonight, we forced turnovers, but we didn’t play our game and thought it was a track meet,” said Bennett. “We committed a ton of turnovers (30) tonight. We need to run our game, our half-court trap. We need to run our offense. But, now we have a little bit of momentum going up against Brunswick on Thursday.
“It is definitely not a lack of effort for this team. They don’t know how to win because they haven’t won at any level. They are starting to gel and learning to not let the foot off the throttle.”
Solid start
Both teams came out firing in the opening quarter, combining on 10 field goals and four 3-pointers as Morse grabbed a 14-12 lead. Freeman had nine points, while Thomas Warren chipped in the other five for the Shipbuilders. Sean Roberts and Steven Gerencer led the Eagles with three points apiece.
The game remained close in the second quarter. Cole Guerin and Jake Steinman scored for the hosts to get to within a point, 20-19, with 2:01 remaining until intermission.
But, Freeman scored twice and Parker Onorato drained a pair of free throws to give Morse a 26-19 halftime lead.
Freeman kept the run going in the third quarter, driving to the basket for a lay-up, then stepping outside to nail a 3-pointer for a 31-19 advantage.
Manuel swished a jumper after a Mt. Ararat timeout, but Warren put home his own miss and Freeman added six more quick points for a 39-21 lead. Manuel hit a 3-pointer, and Austin Damon scored to close the quarter to draw the Eagles to 44-29 after three.
Mt. Ararat tried to make an early fourth-quarter run, but Freeman took a pair of long passes from Onorato for uncontested lay-ups to close things out before a late 9-1 Eagles run made the final score 53-46.
Warren finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, while Onorato dished out six assists and picked up five steals. Damon Osmond had nine boards.
Guerin and Ben Freeman had six points apiece for Mt. Ararat, with Gerencer adding five. Guerin dished out four assists while Roberts had six steals.
Morse 53,
Mt. Ararat 46
At Topsham
Morse — 14 12 18 9 — 53
Mt. Ararat — 12 7 10 17 — 46
Morse — Parker Onorato 2-2-6,
Thomas Warren 5-4-15, Dakota Freeman 11-1-26, Damon Osmond 1-1-3,
Tait Nygaard 1-0-2, Arius Eich 0-1-1,
Connor Upham 0-0-0, Jack Harrington 0-0-0, Alex Fernald 0-0-0, Raz
Baltazar 0-0-0, Josh Doughty 0-0-0.
Totals — 20-9-53.
Mt. Ararat — Cole Guerin 3-0-6, Jake
Steinman 2-0-4, Kyle Brennan 0-0-0,
Ryan Mello 1-2-4, Jared Balser 2-0-4,
Austin Damon 1-1-3, Ben Freeman 2-
0-6, Max Spelke 1-1-3, Steven Gerencer 2-1-5, Sean Roberts 1-0-3, Will
Kavanaugh 0-0-0, Caleb Manuel 3-0-
8. Totals — 18-5-46.
3-point field goals — (Mo) D. Freeman 3, Warren; (MtA) B. Freeman 2,
Manuel 2, Roberts.
Records — Morse 2-8; Mt. Ararat 2-
7.
Up next for the Shipbuilders —
Thursday at home vs. Brunswick, 7
p.m.
Up next for the Eagles — Thursday
at Lewiston, 7 p.m.
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