After defeating Coginchaug in the Shoreline Conference Tournament quarterfinals 51-42, Westbrook boys’ basketball lost to eventual champion Cromwell 53-35 in the semis last week.

On March 1, Westbrook played at top-seeded Cromwell in the Shoreline semifinals. The Panthers jumped out to a 15-7 first quarter lead and stretched that to 30-17 at the break. In the second half, it was more of the same as Cromwell outscored the Knights in the final two quarters in sending them to 15-7 on the season.

Cory Muckle finished with 13 points for Westbrook, Liam Bell had 11 points with six rebounds, plus Brad Cates and Dave Amendola each had six rebounds.

“Cromwell clearly showed why they were 18-3 prior to our game,” Coach Jeff Beeman said. “They beat us up physically and in every facet of the game—defensively, rebounding, offensive execution, shooting percentage. We shot 29 percent when we are normally in the mid-40’s range. It was a disappointing loss, but our effort level was fantastic, so we move forward. We will regroup for season three in the Class S State Tournament versus HMTCA at home Monday.”

Westbrook enters Class S State Tournament play as the No. 8 seed and will host No. 25 HMTCA (10-10) for first round action at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 7. If the Knights win, they’ll host the winner of No. 9 Canton (14-6) and No. 24 Putnam (11-9) in the second round at 7 on Wednesday, March 9. The quarterfinals are on Friday, March 11; the semis take place on Tuesday, March 15; and the final is at Mohegan Sun Arena on either Saturday, March 19 or Sunday, March 20.

—Brett Selmont