POLAND — In a matchup of two of the top teams in Class B South, Freeport leaned on two of its top players.

Senior captain Allie Goodman scored 10 points in the first quarter to put the Falcons ahead, and sophomore captain Caroline Smith finished with a game-high 27 in a 54-42 girls’ basketball victory over Poland on Tuesday night.

“We wanted to come out and really get the ball in transition from our defense to our offense,” Freeport coach Mike Hart said. “I thought we ran the floor really well in the first half.”

The Falcons’ (6-1) length on the defensive end disrupted the Knights (5-3) in the first quarter. Shots weren’t falling, and the rebounds were dropping right into Freeport’s lap. That led to fast breaks the other way, often ending in a shot or layup by Goodman.

“She had a great period,” Hart said. “I think, too, (Smith) had a great period.”

Smith scored four points of her own in the first, and the Falcons led 14-1 after one quarter. Only a free throw by Natalie Theriault prevented Poland from being shut out in the opening frame.

“I just told them that we have to be mentally focused for 32 minutes, and that we’re not going to knock down shots at times,” Poland coach Tim Dolley said. “We just got to work hard and play hard defensively for 32 minutes.”

The offense finally came alive for the Knights in the second. Jess Seeley made a baseline layup 14 seconds in for the team’s first field goal. She and Theriault both added two more apiece, and Lexy Grondin, Ally Gagne and Sophie Vallee each connected on one.

But, more importantly, the Knights started to clamp down defensively as well. They held the Falcons to just eight points in the second, and five of those came on sequence in which Smith hit a 3-pointer, stole the ball at the other end, then made a layup.

“We rely heavily on our defensive presses to create transitions for us, fast breaks,” Dolley said. “And I think that helped us to get back in the game tonight.”

The Freeport lead was just 22-16 at halftime, with Poland going into the break on an 11-1 run.

“We stopped scoring there for a little bit. I think we went on a four- or five-minute drought where we couldn’t find the rim, and they found the rim, so they closed the gap up,” Hart said. “And I told them at halftime, ‘We can’t stop scoring. What we have for a point total is not going to win this game. Continue to look for your offense.’ I felt like we stopped looking for our offense and that hurt us a little bit.”

Luckily for the Falcons, Smith had a huge third quarter. After Seeley made another baseline layup to start, Smith answered with a 3. When Theriault turned a steal into a layup less than three minutes in to cut the lead to three, Smith answered with a long jumper. She scored 13 points in total in the third to help Freeport pull away and lead 42-28 heading into the fourth.

The Knights hung around, however. Their press, led by Theriault’s ball-hawking ability, frustrated the Falcons and played a part in the deficit getting back to single digits.

“We rattled a little but under that pressure,” Hart said. “It’s a loud gym in here. Student fans do a great job here. I felt like we let that get to us a few times, and then we finally settled down and did a pretty decent job getting across the halfcourt line.”

A steal and a layup by Catriona Gould with under three minutes to play was the dagger for the Falcons, though, putting them up 51-40.

Goodman finished with 16 points to back up Smith’s effort. Seeley led the Knights with 16, and Theriault added 12.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

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