SCARBOROUGH — Here are the two things you need to know from Scarborough High’s 66-61 boys’ basketball win Thursday against Kennebunk.
Scarborough 6-foot-7 junior Nick Fiorillo is a matchup nightmare.
And, Kennebunk is never out of a game because of its shooters and tenacity.
Fiorillo scored 38 points. Most came inside as he took advantage of his size, improving post moves and a tightly called game by the referees to score and get multiple Kennebunk players in foul trouble. Fiorillo also showed his 3-point range and step-back jumper in a 16-point second quarter that ignited the AA South-leading Red Storm (12-3).
“I wanted to just keep going at them. They were fouling me early and my guys did a great job of looking for me,” Fiorillo said.
“Nick’s a smart player and he understands the game of basketball but I have to credit his teammates because his teammates got him the ball in great situations,” said Scarborough Coach Phil Conley.
Morgan Pratt had eight assists for Scarborough.
The Class A Rams (10-3) were in serious trouble after Scarborough’s 25-3 second-quarter spree put the Storm ahead 37-20 and three Kennebunk starters on the bench with three fouls. It still looked one-sided early in the fourth quarter, though Cameron Lovejoy scored 15 of his team-high 26 points in the third quarter to keep Kennebunk afloat.
When Scarborough’s decision to slow things down on offense coincided with some free throw misses and turnovers, the Rams got to within 10 on 3-pointers from Ariel Calandri, Max Murray and Lovejoy. A six-point flurry from Kyle Pasieniuk, one of the Rams who had been saddled with fouls, moved the deficit to six points with two minutes to play. Finally a 3-pointer by Pasieniuk (11 points) followed seconds later by a four-point play from Zack Sullivan cut Scarborough’s lead to 62-61 with 25 seconds left.
Scarborough hung on by running some clock and getting Fiorillo to the line with 7.7 seconds left. He made both free throws. Tyler Gobeil stole the inbounds pass, was fouled, and clinched the win with two free throws.
Kennebunk outscored Scarborough by five points in the first, six in the third and six in the fourth.
“Obviously we’re disappointed. It ends our 10-game win streak,” said Kennebunk Coach Barrett Belanger. “But I think if anything we’re holding our heads high in the fact that we were able to battle when everything was against us in that second half.”
Two of Scarborough’s losses are to Class A teams.
“I think AA and A there are great teams in both,” Conley said. “We knew Kennebunk was a very good team. They have three or four kids who can really score the ball from the outside so we needed to play well.”
Scarborough has won four straight since the loss at Biddeford, including taking down then unbeaten Portland.
“It just speaks to our team. If we’re ever down we’re always roaring back,” said Fiorillo. “I mean, we didn’t have a great first quarter tonight but we came out with much better energy in the second .”
Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:
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