PORTLAND—Just when you think you have the tournament figured out, along comes a game that shocks everyone.

Well, almost everyone.

Saturday evening at the Portland Exposition Building, the second-seeded Falmouth boys’ basketball team, the two-time reigning Class A South champion, took on a seventh-ranked Westbrook squad the Navigators have dominated in recent years and were expected to handle again in the quarterfinal round.

But there’s a reason they play the games.

Falmouth, the favorite in the region, scored the game’s first five points and appeared to be on its way, but the Blue Blazes, who came in believing they could shock the world, closed the first quarter strong and held a 13-10 advantage after eight minutes.

Westbrook then added to its lead, forcing turnover after turnover and going ahead by as much as a dozen before the Navigators crept back to 25-18 at the half.

To no one’s surprise, Falmouth then completed the comeback in the third quarter, tying the score four different times before a layup from senior Henry Stowell sent the Navigators to the fourth period with a 33-31 lead.

When senior standout Chris Simonds opened the final stanza with a basket, Falmouth appeared on the brink of pulling away to victory, but instead, the Blue Blazes completely took over, embarking on a game-changing 14-1 run to lead, 45-36.

The Navigators attempted one more rally but it wasn’t to be and five late free throws from senior Aiden Taylor helped slam the door on a 50-43 upset victory.

Westbrook beat Falmouth for the first time ever in the postseason, improved to 9-10, advanced to take on No. 3 Noble (15-4) in the semifinals Wednesday at 6 p.m., at the Expo and in the process, ended the Navigators’ fine season at 15-4.

“Obviously, they’ve been our nemesis the past couple years, but we thought we had a good chance,” said Blue Blazes coach Bryan Hoy. “I have to give the credit to all the boys. They executed the game plan fantastically.”

Upset of the tournament so far

Falmouth took care of business in both the 2022 and 2023 regional tournaments, capturing the title with relative ease before dropping state game decisions to the Cooper Flagg-led Nokomis Warriors and Brewer Witches, respectively. Along the way, it beat Westbrook both years in the tournament.

This winter, the Navigators were the favorite in Class A South and didn’t disappoint, winning 15 of 18 outings (see sidebar for links to previous stories) to wind up second in the region behind a Gray-New Gloucester squad they defeated, 75-54, on Opening Night.

Westbrook, a semifinalist in 2023, went 8-10 this winter, starting 2-5 and 4-8 before winning four of its final six.

Falmouth won the regular season meeting, 75-57, Dec. 12 on the road. Simonds went off for 30 points in that one, while junior Billy Birks added 13, negating Westbrook sophomore Dimitri Lubin’s 17 points.

The Navigators had won all four prior playoff meetings (see sidebar), including last year’s 52-33 triumph in the semifinals.

Saturday, Falmouth expected to prevail again, but instead, the Navigators were done in by a flurry of turnovers and a determined foe that wouldn’t be denied.

Falmouth got off to a strong start, as junior Davis Mann drained a 3-pointer from the corner and Simonds set up senior Charlie Wolak for a layup, but most of the rest of the first half belonged to the Blue Blazes.

Westbrook got its first points on a spinner from Taylor and after Mann made a free throw, Taylor answered with one and senior Zach Jalbert tied the score with a 3-pointer.

The Navigators went back in front on an old-fashioned three-point play (layup, foul, free throw) from Birks, but Taylor scored on a leaner and after Mann hit a free throw, the Blue Blazes scored five points in the final 32 seconds of the frame to go ahead for the first time.

After sophomore Mike Shungu hit a free throw, junior Paddy Walsh fed junior David Mbuyamba for a layup and the lead, then sophomore Gio Staples stole the ball and made a layup for a 13-10 advantage after one quarter.

“A fast start was super-important,” Taylor said. “We focused on little stuff like getting on the ground for the ball. All of our efforts tonight were crazy.”

Westbrook then opened up a double digit lead in the second period before Falmouth started to awaken.

Staples started the quarter with two free throws and after Wolak hit a jumper and Mann made a free throw, the next 10 points went to the Blue Blazes.

The run began with a three-point play from Mbuyamba on a putback, then Mbuyamba made a layup after a steal and after a steal from Lubin, Mbuyamba made another layup for a 22-13 lead, forcing longtime Navigators coach Dave Halligan to call timeout.

It didn’t help, as Shungu was fouled after an offensive rebound and hit one free throw, then after missing a dunk, Shungu scored on a putback for a stunning 25-13 advantage with 2:48 to go before halftime.

The tide finally turned 70 seconds later, when junior Tyler Simmons set up Simonds for a layup and his first points, ending a 5 minute, 25 second scoring drought.

After Birks made a free throw, Wolak banked home a shot to pull Falmouth within seven, 25-18, at the break.

Mbuyamba led the way with nine points for Westbrook, which forced the Navigators to turn the ball over a stunning 16 times.

Falmouth then returned to form in the third quarter.

The second half began with Simonds setting up Wolak for a layup. Wolak then made two foul shots and after Mbuyamba twice missed layups, Simonds converted a three-point play with 5:20 remaining in the frame to tie the score, 25-25.

Mbuyamba put the Blue Blazes back in front with a putback, ending the Navigators’ 12-0 run and a 5:57 drought, but Mann tied the game again with two free throws.

After Staples set up Mbuyamba for a layup, Mann found Stowell for a layup to make it 29-29.

Again, Westbrook went up two, as Taylor found Shungu for a layup, but Mann got a spinner to roll in and just before the horn, Wolak set up Stowell for a layup and a 33-31 advantage, Falmouth’s first since the score was 10-9.

Most on hand believed the Navigators would go on to victory in the fourth quarter, but instead, the Blue Blazes showed the depth of their heart and turned the tables.

Simonds spun for a layup 33 seconds into the final stanza and Falmouth was up by two possessions, but by the time the Navigators scored again, they were firmly on the ropes.

After Shungu drove and banked in a shot, junior Paddy Walsh banked home a contested leaner to tie it, 35-35, with 6:15 remaining.

The score remained deadlocked until Mbuyamba stole the ball, got it to Lubin, then Lubin passed to Staples for the fastbreak layup and Westbrook had a lead it wouldn’t relinquish, 37-35, with 4:35 to play.

“We talked about them going on a run and us having to respond,” Hoy said. “The guys didn’t blink and it was great to see.”

After a defensive stop, Taylor fed Lubin for a layup.

With 3:45 to go, Birks made the second of two free throws to snap the 8-0 Blue Blazes’ run and a 3:42 drought, but Staples countered with two foul shots and after Birks was off target on a 3, Staples set up Walsh for a breakaway layup to make it 43-36 with 2:55 on the clock.

When Taylor hit two free throws with 1:31 left, Westbrook was feeling good, but Mann kept hope alive with a layup.

Staples then missed two free throws, but Taylor got the offensive rebound.

After Staples missed twice more from the charity stripe, Simonds had a look at a 3 to make things interesting, but it was no good.

With 46.3 seconds to go, Taylor made a free throw, then missed the second, but he tipped out the rebound, the Blue Blazes retained possession and Taylor got the ball back and was fouled again with 42.3 seconds remaining.

This time, Taylor knocked down both attempts and the lead was 10.

“It’s super nervewracking, but at the end of the day, it’s just practice,” said Taylor, of his pressure foul shots. “I just picture the banners hanging in our gym and treat it like a normal free throw.”

Mann set up Simonds for a dunk 10 seconds later, but with 26 seconds to play, senior Jackson Young fed Mbuyamba for a layup to slam the door.

A last-ditch 3 from Stowell was too little, too late and Westbrook was able to run out the clock and at 7:19 p.m., celebrate its seismic 50-43 victory.

“This means everything, I’m ecstatic,” Taylor said. “My emotions are everywhere. I can’t describe it. The past two years they sent us home. A lot of our seniors cried after last year and we made a promise to them that it wouldn’t happen again and it didn’t. We have a whole community that was here for us.”

“It’s a good win for us,” Hoy said. “We knew the only way we’d beat them was if we confused them and I think we did. We played 13 different defenses tonight and we were pretty seamless going from one to the other. We know how good we can be. We knew we had a tough schedule and we hung tight with some of those teams. We knew if we could put together 32 good minutes, we’d have a chance against anybody.

“We have a young program. Being honest, the big thing was getting here and playing a game here so the sophomores and juniors would get experience for next year. Now, we’ll have to readjust our expectations.”

Mbuyamba paced the Blue Blazes with 15 points, 10 rebounds and five steals. Taylor also wound up in double figures with 10 points, to go with five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Shungu had eight points off the bench, as well as four rebounds and two steals. Staples also had eight points, Walsh finished with four, Jalbert had three and Lubin two.

“We have a lot of impact sophomores who bring the most energy I’ve ever seen,” said Taylor. “We have energy and support from the bench. If we’re up or down, we have the same energy and we stay consistent and unfazed.”

“We played nine guys and everyone did something to help us win,” said Hoy. “That’s how we’ll beat teams.”

Westbrook enjoyed a 32-26 advantage on the glass, made 13-of-23 free throws and overcame 17 turnovers.

The Blue Blazes will be underdogs again in the semifinals against a Noble squad which led by junior standout Jamier Rose, ran away from No. 6 Greely in its quarterfinal, 76-50.

Westbrook lost, 78-57, Jan. 30 at the Knights, but as the Blue Blazes proved Saturday, regular season results mean little at this juncture and they’re not ready to go home yet.

“We just need to focus on ourselves,” said Taylor. “I think we can be our own biggest enemy. Noble’s a great team and they’ve made it as far as we have, but we just have to show we’re the better team.”

“We’re just going to have to figure out a good game plan against those guys,” Hoy said. “They’re very good. Rose is one of the best players we’ve played all season. We have to figure out how to neutralize him defensively. We’ll try to come up with something for sure.”

Shock city

Mann paced Falmouth with 12 points, to go with three assists, two blocks and two steals. Wolak finished with 10 points. Simonds’ final game saw him produce nine points, nine rebounds and three assists.

“We couldn’t get Simonds the ball,” Halligan said. “We missed him a lot.”

Stowell finished with seven points and seven rebounds and Birks had five points

The Navigators made just 11-of-18 free throws and committed an uncharacteristic and fatal 25 turnovers.

“It’s disappointing,” Halligan said. “It was inconsistency from a lack of tournament experience. We let a lot of teams back in games this year, so that was cause for concern coming in. We started off well, but you can’t win many games with that many turnovers. We couldn’t dig out of it. Westbrook played well. They had a good game plan and had a lot of heart. We had the game going our way but then we had three or four turnovers in a row. We didn’t make good decisions.

“We had a great season, but not as good as we would have liked.”

The loss of Simonds will be felt and Falmouth also has to part with Stowell, Wolak and three others.

“I feel badly for the seniors,” Halligan said. “We wouldn’t have had the season we had without the seniors.”

Next year’s team will be led by the likes of Birks and Mann and rest assured that the Navigators will work their way back to the top in 2024-25.

“The young guys got experience,” Halligan said. “Hopefully they’ll learn from this game. I told them after the game that this is a learning experience. Every once in awhile you have to go through something like this to really appreciate the good things.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. For game updates and links to game stories, follow him on Threads: @foresports2023

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