Falmouth defeats Westbrook 75-57
Westbrook and Falmouth battling for the ball on the floor. Photo by Emily Bontatibus
The Falmouth Navigators beat the Westbrook Blue Blazes this Tuesday night 75-57.
The Navigators won their first game of the season against the Gray-New Gloucester Patriots 75-54 last Friday evening. Four of their players reached double digits in scoring, with Junior guard Billy Birks leading the offense.
Similarly, the Blue Blazes won their first game of the season against the Greely Rangers 50-40 last Friday night. Sophomore forward, Mike Shungu, was the lead scorer for Westbrook with 23 points.
Throughout the game fan sections fueled their teams with various chants and chirping, giving the game an edge. With two minutes to go the Navigators lead 13-9. But, the Blue Blazes came back strong with a floater by Sophomore guard, Gio Staples, putting his team up 14-13 at the end of the quarter.
The second quarter was hectic, to say the least, with multiple lead changes and fouls on both ends. Westbrook put on a very effective full court press forcing Falmouth to take some timeouts. Navigator Junior center, Tyler Simmons, caught the offensive rebound with five minutes left, converting an and one to take the lead 20-18; he would go on to do it once more in this quarter. Falmouth furthered their lead with three seconds to go with a three from Birks, making the score 37-32.
One minute into the second half Westbrook Senior guard, Jackson Young, hit a three to put his team within four points. Bodies were hitting the floor and fighting for the ball, but despite the roaring fan sections and questionable calls by the refs, both teams' sportsmanship remained terrific. Falmouth Senior center, Chris Simonds, began to take over around the six minute mark. From finishing with contact and crashing the defensive board, Simonds took the Navigators to the end of the quarter with a lead of 56-50.
The Navigators made a beautiful offensive play at the beginning of the third quarter. Davis Mann, a Junior guard, dumped the ball to Simonds in the key ten seconds in, improving Falmouth’s lead 58-50. Down by ten, Blue Blaze Junior forward, David Mbuyamba, secured the O-board rebound for a layup after ripping it out of Simmons hands to cut the Navigators lead to eight. Westbrook fought hard on their full court press to cause Falmouth turnovers, however, their scoring was unsuccessful. Falmouth put the dagger in Westbrook at the four minute mark. Birks winded through every defender down the court for an impressive layup. The Navigators took the win 75-57.
Westbrook will face Gray-New Gloucester this Friday, December 15th, in Gray. While Falmouth will take a week off before they play the South Portland Red Riots on Tuesday, December 19th.
