AUBURN – The St. Dom’s girls’ basketball team only allowed 13 points in the entire second half Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately for the Saints, it was enough for Freeport to earn its first victory of the season with a 41-34 win.

The Saints roared back from a 19-point deficit in the third quarter and held the Eagles just six points for much of the entire second half. The Saints got within two on one occassion and were down by four points twice in the final quarter, but Freeport managed to finish off the win with a 9-4 run.

“I’m real proud of the way they hung in there and came back,” said St. Dom’s coach Paul Rheaume. “We’ve come a long way, and we seem to be getting better and better.”

Though the Saints got close in the final quarter, St. Dom’s couldn’t complete the comeback. Freeport switched up its zone defense, and the Saints were plagued by forced shots and turnovers. The Eagles opened the lead again with crucial execution down the stretch.

“We made three or four trips down the floor when we didn’t score at all,” said Rheaume.

Rachel Foster had a game-high 14 points for the Eagles (1-2). Emily Drummond and Kari Oransky each added eight. The Saints (1-2) got nine from Morgan Whitney and eight from Allaina Murphy.

Freeport built a seemingly commanding lead with an 18-3 second quarter, but the Saints found intensity on defense and befuddled the Eagles for much of the second half.

“They came out and played in the second half,” said Rheaume. “It’s too bad we didn’t play the first half with the same intensity.”

The Saints used a 1-2-2 zone trap and forced 15 Freeport turnovers in the second half. The Eagles shot 1-for-12 in the third quarter and started the fourth 0-for-5, settling for a 5-for-21 second half.

“We’ve worked against that plenty of times, and we know what to do,” said Freeport coach Jay Harper. “We just didn’t do it. We weren’t executing.”

It opened the door for the Saints to rally. St. Dom’s struggled to get its inside game going in the first half but got the hot shooting hand in the third quarter. Beth Pare and Whitney each hit three-pointers as the Saints scored 11 straight and finished the quarter with a 14-2 run.

“Our goal was to take away their inside game today,” said Harper. “I think we did a good job of that. In the second half, they started to hit some outside shots and got hot from the perimeter.”

A Whitney three-pointer and a Jenn Cullen rebound to start the fourth had the Saints within 32-30 with 6:45 left.

Freeport answered with a corner jumper from Foster. Drummond hit a short jumper off an inbounds pass to beef the lead back to 36-30 with 2:54 left. A Lucy Whitaker score gave them an eight-point lead with 1:36 left.

“We had a couple of key outside shots,” said Harper. “Rachel Foster hit one and Emily Drummond hit one. Those were huge shots. Just getting the four to six point breathing room makes a big difference, and we were able to hold on.”

Baskets by Cullen and Allaina Murphy got the Saints within four, but a free throw by Kristen Poulin and a rebound by Foster sealed the win.

Freeport opened the lead in the second with a 13-0 run. The Saints inside game struggled and St. Dom’s went 7:39 without a point during one stretch. The Eagles shot 8-for-12 in the second.

“This year we’ve had some glimpes of it in the preseason and different games,” said Harper. “When they start clicking, they’re a good team.”