Westbrook 54

Gorham 46

Nothing was going to stop the Westbrook boys’ basketball team on Tuesday night. They got off to a slow start, and trailed 17-4 after one quarter. That didn’t stop them. They had to wait out a fire alarm. That couldn’t stop them. The Blazes made a second half surge to eliminate a double-digit deficit and defeat Gorham 54-46. Dominic Borelli led Westbrook with 17 points. Nick Jobin had 16 for the Blazes.

The Blazes outscored Gorham 39-19 in the second half to overcome a 12-point halftime deficit. The third quarter was the turnaround for the Blazes. Isaac Pease hit a three-pointer to open the second half and give Gorham a 15-point cushion. From there the Blazes took over. Borelli, Nick Jobin and Kyle Sanborn led a 19-4 run through the rest of the quarter to tie the game at 34.

“Obviously we played a much better second half,” said Westbrook coach Mark Karter. “We tried not to get too down. We really focused on Nick Jobin, who had a great first half and Tyler Kelly picked us up in the first half. We just tried to switch the momentum. We made an adjustment on their zone and we started making shots and playing with some energy and that was pretty good.”

In the fourth quarter, things stayed even with Gorham pulling out to a five-point lead early. But Westbrook hung right with the Rams. Midway through the fourth, Borelli stole the ball and rumbled ahead on a fast break. He slammed the ball home to pull his team within two and seemingly break the Rams’ backs.

“We have some very talented players on the team and Dominic did a great job,” Karter said. “The dunk might have swung some momentum our way. He’s a very good player on both ends of the floor.”

Shortly after his dunk, Borelli gave the Blazes their first lead of the game with a jumper. Westbrook would never trail again.

With the Rams still clinging to life with just over a minute left, Andrew Arena broke out for a fast break. But Borelli ran him down and blocked his lay-up attempt to preserve Westbrook’s three-point lead.

“We kind of locked down we knew they would do that iso thing on the wing so we played more help side didn’t go for the ball fakes as much and just moved our feet,” said Sanborn of Westbrook’s second half defense.

After the blocked shot, the Rams were running out of time and were forced to foul the Blazes to keep clock movement to a minimum. The move didn’t work for the Rams because Westbrook shot 8-11 from the charity stripe in the fourth, including six straight to close out the game.

“It’s crucial,” Sanborn said. “Free throws win games. We’ve been shooting a lot in practice because the last few years we weren’t as good at the line. It’s been a point of emphasis.”

In the first half, it seemed a Westbrook win would not happen. They got off to a slow start and had a tough time with Gorham’s defense. The Rams were up 6-2 just two minutes into the game when the fire alarm went off. The building was evacuated until the fire department came and deemed it safe to return.

The break did little to derail the Rams as they continued their dominance in the first quarter with an 11-2 run. After the first, Gorham held a big advantage, 17-4.

Little changed in the second quarter, except for the Blazes making a few more shots. But the Rams made just as many and when the teams headed for the locker room, Gorham had a comfortable lead 27-15. Mike Foustoukos led Gorham with 14 points.

In the end, the Blazes proved too much for the Rams and came away with their third win of the young season. The Rams are still winless and will look to break into the win column on Friday against South Portland. The Blazes were scheduled to face Deering on Thursday.