PORTLAND – The Westbrook boys basketball team dropped its second straight game on Tuesday night, coming up on the short end of a 73-47 decision at Cheverus.
The Stags (4-0) jumped out to a very quick start against the Blazes (2-2), getting 14 straight points from Louie DiStasio (he finished with 22 on the night) to jump out to a 25-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. It was the exact same story in the second, as the Stags once again outscored Westbrook 25-7 to take a commanding 50-14 lead at the half and Cheverus cruised in the second half to the win.
Zack Bean had eight points, including two 3-pointers to lead the Westbrook offense. Alec Hazlewood chipped in with seven points and Keenan Lowe had six points for the Blazes.
The Blazes’ loss to the Stags came on the heels of a tough home loss to South Portland on Dec. 16.
At times during the game, it appeared the Riots were going to blow Westbrook out of their own gym, but the resilient Blazes kept battling back all through the second half, and despite a big number of missed layups and free throws, Westbrook managed to turn a second-half deficit that had grown as high as 13 points to just two with less than five minutes to go in the contest. But South Portland got some key hoops down the stretch and the Blazes were unable to convert on several makeable attempts, and the Red Riots held on for a 57-51 win.
South Portland’s Jack Tolan was an offensive force for the Riots, scoring a game-high 21, which included several huge shots in the late stages of the game as Westbrook was trying to mount a comeback. Logan Gaddar had 12 points for the Riots, Ben Burkey had 10 and Jordan Muller had nine, all from the free throw line, in the win as well.
Bean, who had 10 points, including a 3-pointer, led the Westbrook offensive attack. Westbrook’s Nguot Nguot had eight, including a monster dunk in the second half and Hazlewood also chipped in with eight points for the Blue Blazes.
After the game against Westbrook, South Portland coach Phil Conley said he was pleased with how his team handled the frantic comeback by the Blazes. “This was a gutsy win by our group,” Conley said. “Westbrook’s a very good team and they play hard right to the last second, and I thought our guys stepped it up a notch, especially in the second half.”
While Westbrook coach Mark Karter was disappointed in the result, he also liked the effort his team showed. “I thought we played really hard,” Karter said. “We obviously struggled to score. If you can’t put the ball in the basket, you’re not going to win many games, especially against a good team.”
South Portland came out of the gate flying in this one. After Westbrook grabbed a quick 2-0 lead, the Riots took control of the game, getting out to a 7-2 lead and closed out the quarter up 17-7.
As they would do all game, the Blue Blazes refused to bow to the pressure. Spurred on by their large and vocal student cheering section, Westbrook started to get some shots to drop, getting big buckets from Lowe (six points) and Ian King (five points) to cut the lead to as little as five before South Portland got some key hoops, including a foul shot from Muller to make it 28-21 at the half.
Once again, it was all South Portland as the third quarter got under way. Less than a minute in, Tolan hit a pair of free throws to put the Riots on top 30-21 and then Gaddar hit on a drive to make it 32-21.
But just as the game started to spin out of control for the Blazes, they started hitting again. Will Batherson brought the crowd to its feet with a huge 3-pointer with 6:15 left in the third to make it 32-24 and then the Blazes forced a turnover and Hazlewood converted off an offensive rebound to close the gap to 34-26.
However, South Portland’s Tanner Hyland picked a very opportune time to connect for his only points of the game. With 4:07 left to go in the quarter, he buried a 3 from the corner to give the Riots a 37-26 lead.
Two minutes later, with the South Portland lead at 13, King would answer with a 3 of his own for Westbrook to cut the deficit to 41-31. The Riots got two more points in the third, but with just 18 seconds to go, Bean connected on a 3 and the score stood at 43-34 going into the fourth.
As the fourth quarter started, Westbrook got a 3 from Nguot to make it 45-39 and then, coming off a South Portland miss, and Joe Quinlan hit a layup to cut the Riot lead to 45-41.
The Riots were having trouble moving the ball, committing a couple of costly turnovers that allowed Westbrook to get within two when Nguot threw down a monster dunk off a pass from Quinlan with 5:33 left to make it 46-44.
Westbrook had the momentum, but missed shots kept hurting the Blazes as the fourth quarter went on. Time after time, Westbrook would get a solid look, but then the shot wouldn’t drop, preventing Westbrook from getting over the top and taking the lead.
And just as Westbrook stopped hitting their shots, the Riots started getting things to drop for them. Tolan came through with several key shots and Gaddar, Muller and Burkey also hit key free throws to keep the game out of reach for Westbrook.
“We missed a ton of shots, we missed a ton of foul shots and they made a ton of foul shots and that’s the difference in the game right there,” Karter said. “We put ourselves in position to make a run to win the game, but we just never got over that hump. I thought our kids fought until the end and I was proud of our effort, it would have been nice to make a couple of more shots and make it more interesting,”
Keenan Lowe of Westbrook gets right in the face of a South
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