Freeport rallied from seven points down late in the second half to slip past Gray-New Gloucester, 40-39 in Unified high school basketball action on Tuesday.
Baskets on Freeport’s next three possessions by Isaac Porter, Anthony Bookataub and Katelyn Rioux suddenly found the Falcons only trailing by one, 31-30 with three-and-a-half minutes remaining.
A layup by G-NG’s Mark Buzzell and a steal by teammate Roland Buzzell put the visitors quickly back up by five, 35-30.
Brewer-Frazee brought cheers from the crowd when he sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the lead to two. The senior tied the score after a Patriots miss, prompting a G- NG timeout with 57 seconds left.
Brewer- Frazee’s play brought compliments from his teammate.
“Kenny’s a good player, said Porter. “He plays well for us and helped us at the end.”
Out of the timeout, Roland Buzzell once again tickled the twine as the Patriots retook the lead. But Brewer- Frazee answered by driving the lane on the other end, hitting a layup while getting fouled. The guard sank the free throw to break the tie and give the Falcons a one-point advantage, 38-37.
As the Patriots ( 4- 2) brought the ball over half-court, Brewer-Frazee stole the ball and registered an uncontested layup, prompting a timeout by G-NG co-coach Jeff Duquette with 15 seconds remaining.
“I told the kids during the timeout we don’t need a 3-pointer yet and to keep their heads in the game,,” said Duquette. “ Go for a quick two and get a timeout.”
Like the coach drew it up, Roland Buzzell took the inbounds pass and immediately dribbled to the hoop for a quick basket. Unfortunately the Patriots were unable to get the timeout and time expired.
“That was a lot of fun, it was exciting” said Roland Buzzell. “This is my second year and I’m having fun.”
Leading up to the exciting finish, both teams fought back and forth throughout the first half and into the second.
Low scoring
It was a low scoring first half, but not short on action.
Freeport’s Porter became a big presence underneath almost immediately. Using his height advantage, the junior grabbed his own shots off the rim, putting them back for points. The post player tallied all six of his first-half points in the opening minutes as the Falcons raced out to a 6-3 lead. The Patriots’ first points came on a basket from behind the arc by Ryan Verrill.
Verrill finished with five first-half points, followed by Mark Buzzell’s four and Andrew Parker’s two as the Patriots trailed Freeport, 12- 11 at the break. Behind Porter’s six, Bookataub netted four and TJ Farrington had a basket for the Falcons ( 4- 1) after 20 minutes of play.
The Falcons and Patriots became much more acclimated with baskets to open the second half. Each team was successful on its first few possessions of the half, distributing the points amongst themselves.
G-NG got a pair of baskets from Parker to start the half, followed by Nicholas Villanueva netting four points, while Austin Andrews chipped in with a hoop.
Porter led Freeport in the second half with eight points, finishing with a game-high 14 points.
“It was really, really fun. It got a little rough at the end, but we were OK,” said Porter. “ We’re hoping to win the rest of our games.”
Rioux, Bookataub and Jared Ladd also got baskets for the Falcons in the final half. Rioux and Bookataub each finished with six points in the win.
Verrill paced the Patriots with nine points, followed by Parker and Mark Buzzell’s eight. Roland Buzzell chipped in with six.
After the final buzzer, each team congratulated one another on the game, as players, partners and coaches shook hands.
“ It’s great to come out here and work with these students,” said Freeport partner and sophomore Liam Holt. “To build these friendships here on the court and see it carry into the hallways in school is something special.”
Freeport 40, Gray-NG 39
At Freeport
| Gray-NG | — | 11 | 28 | — | 39 | |
| Freeport | — | 12 | 28 | — | 40 |
Gray-New Gloucester — Trevor
Morin 0-0-0, Andrew Michaud 1-0-2,
Nicholas Villanueva 2-0-4, Ryan Verrill 4-0-9, Dylan Weymouth 0-0-0,
Austin Andrews 1-0-2, Angelina Sico
0-0-0, Andrew Parker 4-0-8, Roland
Buzzell 3-0-6, Blake Waterhouse 0-0-
0, Vitaliy Chan 0-0-0, Mark Buzzell 4-
0-8, Christopher Perkins 0-0-0, David
Ayer 0-0-0. Totals — 19-0-39.
Freeport — TJ Farrington 1-0-2, Leo
Li 0-0-0, Katelyn Rioux 3-0-6, Kenny
Brewer-Frazee 4-1-10, Jared Ladd 1-
0-2, Anthony Bookataub 3-0-6, Isaac
Porter 7-0-14, Adam Leavitt 0-0-0.
Totals — 19-1-40.
3-point goals — (GNG) Verrill; (F)
Brewer-Frazee.
Records — Freeport 4-1; Gray-New
Gloucester 4-2.
Up next for Falcons — Thursday at
Yarmouth, 3:30 p.m.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less