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01/12/2014 11:00 PMThings are really coming together for the Westbrook boys’ basketball squad in 2014. What started as an early-season successful story for the Knights has turned into an undefeated record at the season’s midway point and berth in the Class S State Tournament after Westbrook defeated both Portland and East Hampton—the latter of which was previously undefeated—last week.
Early in the week, the Knights posted a 51-49 victory over Portland on Jan. 6. Sam Grigo was the star, going 5-for-7 for 13 points, including 4-for-5 for 11 points in the first half.
Heading to East Hampton on Jan. 9, Westbrook faced the also-unbeaten Bellringers at their home court and the Knights earned the huge 71-66 win to remain undefeated at 8-0 and punch their ticket to the state tournament, this all in front of a raucous East Hampton crowd and the TV cameras.
Faruk Cecunjanin was the leading scorer with 24 points, followed by Grigo with 20 (and was 7-for-11 in shooting, including 4-for-6 from behind the arc), Cade Muckle with 14, Chris Dahl with six, and Jordan Bernard with four. Cecunjanin also had 11 rebounds and the Knights only had six turnovers in the game.
The Bellringers led for the most of the game and got off to a quick 9-0 start behind solid three-point shooting (they had 13 three-pointers) and “big man” Colin Park, whom the Knights had trouble putting a stop to. Westbrook dug in on defense late and East Hampton started to miss a few shots and the Knights picked up their rebounding and transition offense, catching up with their opponent midway through the fourth quarter.
“The team was fired up, obviously, and my hardest job now will be to bring them back to earth and prep them for Hyde [on Jan. 13], which we’ve never beaten,” said Coach Jeff Beeman. “It’s very nice to know we’ve qualified for the state tournament.”