The Falmouth boys’ basketball team relied on its youth Wednesday night to defeat Cape Elizabeth 43-38 in a Class A South semifinal at the Cross Insurance Arena.
After losing senior guard Colin Coyne to a season-ending injury, Mike Simonds and Sam Manganello – a freshman and a sophomore – stepped up, both scoring 12 points for the second-seeded Yachtsmen (15-5).
Falmouth will play top-ranked Greely – which won both of their regular-season meetings – in the final at 8 p.m. Saturday at the CIA.
“Colin going down definitely hurt us, so I had to step up and try to help my team,” Simonds said. “We can play through anything.”
Andrew Hartel led third-seeded Cape Elizabeth (12-8) with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Jacob Allen contributed 10 points.
“They amped it up and we didn’t,” Capers Coach Jim Ray said. “We didn’t string enough together.”
Coyne – a four-year starter who Falmouth Coach Dave Halligan called the team’s “heart and soul” – suffered a broken leg two minutes into the game. He limped off the court into the locker room before heading to a hospital.
“It was just a freak thing, just unfortunate circumstances,” Halligan said. “We just had to play together as a team.”
Sean Walsh – a senior captain who scored 11 points for the Yachtsmen – said Simonds and Manganello “really stepped up.”
“They’ve been really good since they were young,” Walsh said, “and they really proved that today.”
Hartel opened the scoring with a free throw, which Allen followed with a steal and a layup to give the Capers a 3-0 lead. Ben Simonds – Mike Simonds’ older brother – put Falmouth on the board with a layup. After another Hartel basket, Jack Bryant made it 5-5 halfway through the opening period with a three-point play.
Mike Simonds put the Yachtsmen up 7-5 for their first lead, but the Capers ended the period on top, 9-7.
It wouldn’t last long. Falmouth opened the second quarter with three 3-pointers for nine unanswered points – with Mike Simonds hitting two and Walsh contributing one. The Yachtsmen outscored Cape Elizabeth 15-5 in the period to enter halftime up 22-14.
A minute a half into the second half, Cape Elizabeth kicked off an eight-point scoring run capped by an Allen layup and 3-pointer that made it 22-22.
Manganello scored twice for the Yachtsmen – their only four points that quarter – before the Capers put up another three points to cut Falmouth’s lead to 26-25 entering the final period.
In the first minute and a half of the fourth quarter, Hartel and Quinn Hewitt scored on layups to give Cape Elizabeth its first lead of the half at 29-26. Manganello made two free throws to pull Falmouth within a point.
After a Hartel jumper for the Capers and a Bryant free throw for the Yachtsmen, Manganello made it 31-31 with a layup.
With 4:31 left, he added a free throw that gave the Yachtsmen the lead for good.
Taylor Vortherms can be contacted at 791-6417 or
tvortherms@pressherald.com
Twitter: TaylorVortherms
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