It was an exhibition game. For a moment, it didn’t feel like one.
When Brunswick’s Dakota Shipley made a steal and found Kelsie Carlton for a 3-pointer, to pull the Dragons within two points of Portsmouth, New Hampshire in the closing seconds of their matchup at the Holiday Hoops Showcase at the Expo, it felt like a regular-season contest or even a playoff one. Players were leaping in joy and coaches feverishly calling timeout.
And that’s the value of such holiday tournament games, won Tuesday by Portsmouth, 38-34. These games are a chance for teams to try something different, against someone new, and they can often be a learning experience.
“It’s a good chance to see our flaws,” said Brunswick Coach Sam Farrell, whose team is 4-0 in the regular season. “It shows you either what to work on or refocuses them on why we’re working on those different skills and game plans.”
The Dragons, who have won their games by an average of 32.5 points, suddenly found themselves in a battle with the Clippers, who are 2-1 in New Hampshire’s Division I and are coming off a state semifinal appearance. Portsmouth’s length inside thwarted Brunswick’s offense, and compounded an already off shooting night.
“We had three end-of-quarter situations of things we can both watch on film, but also work on,” Farrell said. “We haven’t had that yet.”
Portsmouth’s Savannah Emery scored eight of her team-high 14 points to help the Clippers take the lead for good in the fourth, but Brunswick provided drama. Shipley (12 points) stole the ball with Brunswick down five, and immediately passed to Carlton in the corner for a 3-pointer that made it 36-34 with 13.3 seconds left, turning a sleepy scene into a frantic one.
“Everyone got really excited. We had a lot of momentum at the end of the game,” Shipley said. “(Close games) really help us figure out what we need to improve, and what we struggle with.”
Carlton said there was also value to playing a tight game in the Portland Expo, where the Dragons will hope to play more in February.
“Playing here, it’s a lot different than the environment (during the season), so it helps us get used to it for playoffs,” she said.
Carlton said the Clippers, whose trio of Avery Romps (11 points), Maddie MacCannell and Margaret Montplaisir (11 rebounds) led the post defense, were an ideal challenge.
“That’s one of New Hampshire’s best teams,” she said. “We have some tough teams coming up, like Oxford Hills, Bangor. This helps us prepare for those teams that will be similar to this team.”
The victory required a show of mental toughness from the Clippers, who also played Deering earlier in the afternoon. Portsmouth will also play Oceanside at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“In the little break in between, we were all getting a little bit tired and we were like ‘Oh, we have to play another one,’ ” Emery said. “It was hard to get our momentum back for sure in the second game.”
Like their opponents, however, the Clippers welcomed the unfamiliar foe.
“With all of the pressure they were giving us, it got us to kind of figure out how to relax and handle that,” Emery said. “In our league, we have a lot of teams we’ll be seeing that do the same kind of pressure. I think it was good exposure.”
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