The Cheverus Stags’ statement was evident from the opening tip of Monday’s SMAA boys basketball game with highly-ranked Westbrook: the defending Class A state champs are still the team to beat.

Cheverus jumped to a quick lead and was never really challenged, topping Westbrook 60-44 in an afternoon game on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in front of a large crowd at Westbrook High School. Cheverus stayed perfect with the victory, improving to 12-0. The Blue Blazes fell for just the second time, dropping to 11-2.

The Blazes were also knocked from their perch atop the Western Maine Class A Heal Point standings, as they were overtaken by South Portland in this week’s release, which did not include Monday’s game. Cheverus was No. 4.

Mick DiStasio’s fastbreak layup off a Westbrook turnover put the Stags up 6-2 just over two minutes into the game and forced an early Westbrook timeout. It didn’t help much, as the Stags were up 13-4 three minutes later after DiStasio made two free throws following a technical foul called on Blazes coach Mark Karter, who expressed dismay with a no-call on what appeared to be a travel by a Cheverus player.

DiStasio added two 3-pointers in the final 80 seconds of the first quarter to give Cheverus a 21-6 lead after one. He scored 12 of his game-high 30 points in the first. He finished with four 3s.

“I would have liked to have come out with a lot more intensity,” Karter said. “I thought they came out very crisp, executed their stuff, made shots early – all the stuff we really wanted to do but just didn’t. I think we put ourselves in a hole early and it’s hard to come back against a team like that.”

With many players back from last year’s championship team, the Stags know how to play in big games. Still, Cheverus coach Bob Brown said the fast start was crucial for his squad.

“If you just win in Westbrook, you’ve done a good job,” Brown said. “It’s a good home-court advantage. It’s a tough place to play. We’re a shooting team and when you’re a shooting team it’s important to make shots early.”

The 21-point first quarter showcased Cheverus’ offensive abilities, but it was the defense that Brown was most pleased with.

“I thought we did some good things on the offensive end, but I thought the defensive end was really good,” he said.

Playing a matchup zone that made it difficult for Westbrook to get the ball inside to 6’7″ center Dominic Borelli and 6’6″ forward Nich Jobin – two of the league’s top big men – Cheverus forced Westbrook to settle for outside shots. Indiana Faithfull, Cheverus’ 6’3″ point guard with a long wingspan, was also very disruptive on the perimeter, deflecting passes and forcing turnovers.

“I thought there were a lot of looks where we had (Borelli) open inside and we didn’t get him the ball,” Karter said. Borelli finished with nine points, which included a 3-pointer. Jobin had a team-high 20, but also was forced outside, as nine of his points came on 3s.

“It’s all team defense,” Brown said, though he lauded the inside work of 6’5″ center Lenny Cummings, who worked hard to deny passes to Borelli. “We did a good job of having pressure on the ball and we did a good job of being ready to help from the weak side. We didn’t always stop (Borelli) and we sure didn’t stop Jobin. The most disappointing part of the ball game was that Jobin – he didn’t have easy shots, but he had almost open looks.”

Jobin showed impressive range on his jumper, knocking down his 3s from well beyond the arc.

“Nich’s played real well for us all year, so it’s nice to see him have a good game,” Karter said. “But against a team like that, we’re going to have to have more people step up than just one person.”

Westbrook’s offense did come alive in the second quarter, when the Blazes outscored the Stags 16-14 as Jobin scored six and Borelli and Christian Hamilton both added five. But Westbrook never got closer than 10 and a layup by Cummings just before the half made it 35-22 at the break.

Cheverus extended its lead to 49-29 after three quarters, as DiStasio scored eight in the quarter. Jobin had all seven of Westbrook’s points in the third.

Sean Murphy’s 3 started the fourth for the Blazes, but Cheverus answered and led by as many as 21 before Westbrook scored the final five points of the game.

Faithfull finished with 11 points for Cheverus.

Westbrook is scheduled to play Portland on Friday at the Expo. The Bulldogs are fifth in the Heal Points and their two losses have come against Cheverus and Thornton Academy – same as the Blazes.

“That’ll be a tough test for us,” Karter said. “Hopefully we can bounce back and play well.”

After Portland, Westbrook does not face a team in the top six of the Heal Points over its final four games.

“I’d like to go into the playoffs playing good, aggressive basketball,” Karter said. “I think tonight we weren’t as competitive as we should have been. That’s the focus for us – to get to the level where we can play good teams and play them well.”

Cheverus closes the season with five games against teams in the top six. Last season, the Stags were undefeated through 14 games before dropping three of their final four. Brown said this year’s team is better equipped to deal with the brutal schedule to close the year.

“I haven’t had a better team that is a team,” Brown said. “They like each other, they play together, they don’t care who scores, they cheer for each other, and that’s true right down through. I think when you have that you eliminate big glitches.”