Two years ago in a winless season, the Noble High boys’ basketball team often played in a near-empty and quiet gymnasium.

Wednesday night, the Knights roared before a packed crowd at the Portland Expo.

Third-seeded Noble used a dominating run over the second and third quarters to defeat seventh-seeded Westbrook, 66-55, in a Class A South semifinal Wednesday night. The victory lifted the Knights into their first regional final in school history.

Led by the brilliance of junior guard Jamier Rose, the Knights scored 22 points in each of the second and third quarters to take a 25-point lead into the fourth.

“This means a lot, especially to our community,” said Rose, who had 22 points, nine assists, eight steals and five rebounds. “I was with (teammate) Isaiah (Conary) today, and some kid came up and said, ‘I’m going to your game later. I can’t wait to see you guys win.’ We’re a voice for our community. People actually want to come to our games now.”

Noble (16-4) will play for the regional title at 8:45 p.m. Friday against No. 4 Freeport or No. 1 Gray-New Gloucester.

Westbrook (9-11) lost in the regional semifinals for the third consecutive year.

“We’re thrilled about this year,” said Noble Coach John Morgan. “Kids are excited. I think it’s a good balance. The kids are really excited but are really locked in to take this as far as we can.”

It was a tight game after one quarter, with Noble leading 12-11. Then the Knights took off.

They outscored Westbrook 22-6 in the second quarter, with a buzzer-beating rainbow 3-pointer by Bryce Guitard from the right corner giving the Knights a 34-17 halftime lead. Noble kept extending its lead in the third, with Rose scoring nine points to help make it 56-31 going into the fourth.

Westbrook finished strong, scoring the first 10 points of the fourth and cutting the deficit to nine late. But the Blue Blazes simply couldn’t overcome the large deficit.

“It would have been better if we had a little of that fire early in the game,” said Westbrook Coach Bryan Hoy. “We kind of came out a little flat. And they’re just a really good team, and you can’t come out flat or you’ll find yourself in a really big hole.”

One problem for Westbrook was that it was unable to set up its full-court press because it wasn’t hitting shots early in the game. That allowed Noble to get into its running game, something the Knights do as good as anyone.

“I think we’re just a good group that likes to feel out the game in the first quarter, and once we get our legs going and start running, that’s when we fall into our full potential as a group,” said Morgan. “We got into a good rhythm and made some stops and were able to get out and run, and that sets things up for us to get some big 20-point periods.”

Rose was the catalyst for the Knights. But he received plenty of help. Guitard finished with 16 points, hitting three 3-pointers, and Andrew Marzoli had 10 points.

Westbrook was led by Aiden Taylor with 20 points and 14 rebounds.

“I think our effort and mentality was to keep pushing the pace,” said Guitard. “We kept scoring and getting stops, which led to the big lead.”

 

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