Zac Manoogian carried on the family tradition Saturday by leading third-seeded Westbrook to a 53-32 win over No. 7 Kennebunk in a Class A South boys’ basketball quarterfinal at the Portland Expo.
The fourth generation of his family to play basketball for the Blue Blazes, Manoogian scored 19 points as Westbrook defeated the Rams for the third time this season.
The Blue Blazes (13-6) will play Brunswick or Biddeford in a semifinal Wednesday night at Cross Insurance Arena.
Jeremiah Alado and Abier Manyiel each scored 13 points for Westbrook.
Cam Lovejoy led Kennebunk (11-8) with 19 points.
Manoogian took over the second quarter, scoring 12 points in less than five minutes to give the Blazes a 27-18 lead.
“The team does a good job of getting me open and finding me,” he said. “Even when they face-guarded me or played a triangle and two, (my teammates) did a good job of finding me.”
After missing their first five shots and committing seven turnovers to start the second quarter, the Rams got a driving basket from Kyle Pasieniuk and a Lovejoy jumper that beat the buzzer to close to within 27-22.
Kennebunk, buoyed by Lovejoy’s two 3-pointers, went on a 10-0 run to grab a 10-6 lead in the first quarter.
“He shot so well, (and) he kept us in the game offensively,” Kennebunk Coach Barrett Belanger said. “Even the shots he was making we’re not easy shots. They were making us grind it out every offensive possession. We just couldn’t get into a flow.”
Westbrook controlled the tempo in the second half. Running a patient offense, the Blazes ran time off the clock while gradually stretching their lead.
“We know that (Kennebunk) is kind of a rhythm team, (and) they rely a lot on the perimeter game,” Westbrook Coach Dan LeGage said. “We knew we had to control the tempo of the game, whether we went fast or slow.”
The Blue Blazes limited Kennebunk to 10 points in the second half.
“We did a better job defensively in the second half, adjusting to their double screens and getting out to make their shooters a little more uncomfortable,” said LeGage.
“They’re the best defensive team in the league, so they don’t make anything easy,” Belanger said. “We’re young and we were just playing a little fast for what the environment was allowing.”
After the Rams closed to within 42-32 with five minutes left, Westbrook finished the game with an 11-0 run.
“We’ve been trending up the last two years,” said LeGage, in his third season as coach of the Blue Blazes. “Each year, they’ve taken another step, another step, and I’m proud of them.”
Belanger said his young team learned from its tournament appearance.
“We’re looking forward to the future because a lot of (my players) are coming back, so we chalked this up to an experience game,” he said. “Hopefully, we can get better.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.