PORTLAND – When top-ranked Falmouth jumped to a 16-0 lead against ninth-seeded Poland, it appeared another lopsided Western Class B boys’ quarterfinal was in the making.

But unlike easy wins by Yarmouth, Spruce Mountain and York, Falmouth had to hold on for a 55-47 victory Saturday at the Portland Expo.

Jack Cooleen, the Yachtsmen’s 6-foot-5 forward, put his teammates on his back by scoring a career-high 26 points.

“I’m the only one on our team who had played in a tournament game,” said Cooleen, who had 18 in the first half. “I felt it was my responsibility to lead us.”

Cooleen scored the game’s first eight points, getting open inside time and time again for layups and put-backs.

The Knights (11-9) didn’t have any answer, trying different combinations of players on Cooleen to no avail.

“Their tallest guy, Jake Littlefield, they play him on the outside,” said Cooleen.

Despite a 19-0 record, Falmouth had two overtime games and one double-overtime game in the regular season.

Ironically, one of the two regular-season games with Poland had a similar start.

“It wasn’t 16-0,” said Cooleen, “but we had a big early lead.”

Trailing 18-7 after one quarter, the gritty Knights outscored Falmouth 16-10 in the second quarter and 11-8 in the third.

Early in the fourth, Logan Nichols of Poland scored to make it 36-36, and moments later the Knights had a chance to take the lead on a Littlefield breakaway. His layup failed to fall as Falmouth hustled back to defend.

Falmouth then went on a 7-0 run to lead 43-36 with just over four minutes remaining: Matt Packard scored on a drive, Grant Burfiend hit a 3-pointer from the side and Cooleen scored inside.

“That got us the momentum back,” said Cooleen.

Poland cut it to 45-41 on a 3-pointer by Andrew Peterson, but the Yachtsmen took advantage of free throws in the last two minutes.

Nichols was outstanding for the Knights, leading the comeback and finishing with 20 points.

Packard was the only other Yachtsmen in double figures with 12 points.

“I’m very proud of my team,” said Poland Coach Tyler Tracy. “We showed how tough we are. We got knocked down, but got back up and came back. We were tentative and a little scared at the start of the game, but once we settled down we were all right.”

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at:

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: TomChardPPH