This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Seniors Provide Inspiration But Shots Don't Fall

Offense not reliable enough to defeat Westbrook on Senior Night

The seniors honored before the game provided the teeth in Portland’s bite Tuesday night but that wasn’t enough to prevent Westbrook from escaping with a 49-39 victory during Portland’s Senior Night. 

Portland (2-15), which lost its 11th straight game, never gave up the battle despite twice trailing by 14 points in the Shoreline Conference game. Portland kept fighting for possessions, diving for free balls, defending with zeal and attacking the basket. The Highlanders' shots, however, just weren't falling.

The Highlanders’ fourth-quarter rally lost steam when they missed six consecutive free throws midway through the period. For the game, Portland was 13 of 23 from the free-throw line.

Find out what's happening in East Hampton-Portlandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Connor Eastman led Westbrook (9-7) with a game-high 12 points. Alvin Lobo and Sam Grigo each added eight points for the Knights (8-7 Shoreline), who have won three of their last four. Mike Leslie, one of the seniors honored, and Jack Kelley, a sophomore, each led the Highlanders (2-13 Shoreline) with nine points. Senior captain Kevin Philipchik, an honoree, added eight points.

Also honored were Steve Paley, Ryan Healey, Tyler Stebbins and George Sirigos, who is injured and unable to play.

Find out what's happening in East Hampton-Portlandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Our seniors led by example tonight,” Portland coach Nate Turner said. “The five seniors went out there and left it all on the court.”

Westbrook coach Jeff Beeman took note of the Highlanders’ efforts.

“To their credit, they dominated on what we call the 50-50 balls, the loose balls,” Beeman said. “They really hustled. We were not able to put them away.

“Kevin Philipchik found the open people. Our focus was on him. He made that bomb at the end. What was that? Thirty feet?”

Westbrook, which defeated Portland 51-44 on Jan. 25 in Westbrook, opened an 11-7 lead after the first quarter, held in check by the Highlanders' strong defensive play. The Knights pushed their lead to 26-13 with a minute-and-a-half left in the first half but Portland closed with 5-0 run and a 26-18 halftime deficit.

The Highlanders’ shots continued not to fall in the third quarter as Westbrook took a 40-29 lead into the fourth.

“We didn’t help ourselves at all,” Turner said. “We had plenty of opportunities with open looks but the shots didn’t fall. We had opportunities with the foul shots but we missed six in a row. If we made those, that could’ve helped us. We missed them at the wrong times.

“We had to play from behind. We played hard defense.”

Portland’s defense caused Westbrook to miss too many easy shots, Beeman said.

“We had way too many turnovers. Our effort was not poor but our execution was,” he said.

Turner also praised the performance of Philpchik, who did not enjoy a hot hand from the outside.

“He played hard as he does all the time,” Turner said. “He gives 110 percent all the time.

“Everyone else in the league knows he’s our go-to guy. Because of our injured players, it’s tough for him to get going without another scoring threat to go with him.”

Several of Philipchik’s shots somehow -- perhaps in some vexed way -- did not go in, despite rolling around the rim and appearing at first to be good. Kelley, however, took a shot that at first seemed to have no chance of going in. It appeared to roll up from under the rim and in. Kelley’s off-balance shot cut Westbrook’s lead to 46-35 after he made the free throw to complete the three-point play with approximately three minutes left in the game.

But Portland could not ride the momentum from that remarkable shot. The comeback stalled after that because of the free-throw shooting woes.

Look for Viewfinder Thursday starting at 1 p.m. for photos of Senior Night in Portland and East Hampton.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?