WATERBORO — “Always be closing.”

That mantra is used by people that sell things for a living, but it can also be applied to the game of basketball. When the game is on the line, a coach wants to see his team step up and close it out.

In Monday afternoon’s boys basketball showdown it would be the visiting Kennebunk Rams coming up big down the stretch as they rallied from a 9-point deficit in the final three minutes to pick up a 68-64 win over the Massabesic Mustangs. 

The Rams used a full-court press in the final few minutes to completely change the momentum.

“Basically we said, ‘you’ve got to stay composed, we can’t allow layups … every trap we get, we’re in foul trouble, so it’s straight up,’” said Kennebunk coach Barrett Belanger on his message to the Rams in the final minutes.

The press would force the Mustangs into several turnovers, and Kennebunk cashed in on most of the chances — including hitting an impressive 15-of-18 shots from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.

“I think that was the biggest thing is that when they could have been down, it’s the second time in a row now where they’ve just kept their heads up, and they play with confidence thinking they can come back no matter what the score is,” said Belanger. “I think in the fourth quarter we were 15-of-18 shooting free throws … we talked about it at halftime, and every timeout, we are a good free throw shooting team and if we’re making our free throws it’s a different game. That’s part of that composure thing we were talking about.”

For the Mustangs, who dropped to 2-8, it was another disappointing loss in a game where they had a late lead.

“We played really good defense in the second half. I think at one point late in the fourth we had only given up 10 points in the second half … you’re supposed to win those games,” said Massabesic coach Chris Binette. “This isn’t the first one, though. This is the fifth loss where we were winning in the fourth quarter and didn’t win the game … it’s getting old.”

Kennebunk, which held a 10-point lead at halftime, was led by Cam Lovejoy with 22 points. The Rams would get 18 points from Zack Sullivan and 17 from Max Murray. That trio would score all 17 points for Kennebunk in the fourth quarter, including nailing 15 free throws.

While Lovejoy is the leader of this Kennebunk squad, Belanger is thrilled to see other players step up on a consistent basis.

“It’s huge. Any team with just one guy is easy to defend, but with us if Cam’s having an off night it can be Max, it can be Sully, it can be Tripp (Bush), it can be Kyle (Pasieniuk), so we feel good that even if someone’s off we have someone else who can score for us,” said Belanger.

Massabesic, which outscored Kennebunk 19-8 in the third to take a 1-point lead into the fourth, would get 29 points from senior Isaac DesVergnes.

“We talked a lot about Isaac and how he can score, and we tried to defend but he did a great job of getting to the basket and he hit a lot of tough shots,” said Belanger of DesVergnes.

Binette was also quick to praise his senior captain — especially his ability to step up on the defensive end.

“Isaac’s a stud. He’s tough to defend. He can shoot. He can drive. He can jump. He’s a great defender,” said Binette. “Everyone forgets about how good of a defender he is. He always defends their best player and does a good job at it.”

Binette also gave credit to Lovejoy.

“Cam’s a good player and he’s going to be a good player next year,” said Binette, who enjoyed seeing the two standouts go back-and-forth. “It’s fun to watch. This was a great game to be at.”

The Massabesic coach was proud of how his team stepped up after trailing by 10 at the break, but disappointed with how they finished.

“I just like how our kids battled back and didn’t ever give up. We go into halftime down 10 and you know we could tuck it away. They were shooting pretty decent, but we came out and defended it and I’m pretty proud of our kids,” said Binette, who is still looking for his team to put it all together. “We’ve got to get a win here. It’s getting tiresome losing these close games. We’ve lost five (close games). We’ve got to be composed and finish it out.”

Massabesic, which also got 11 points from Alex Schepis and nine from Nick Amabile, will visit Scarborough on Friday. Kennebunk has now won seven straight after starting the season 0-2. The Rams will hit the road to face Noble on Friday.

— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at [email protected] or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.