Upset-minded Mustangs fall short against Storm
Massabesic 49
Scarborough 52
The Scarborough boys basketball team has been gearing up for another playoff run, but the team faced an unlikely challenge when the 1-12 Massabesic Mustangs rolled into Scarborough’s Alumni Gym and gave the Red Storm all they could handle. Trailing going into the fourth quarter, the Red Storm were able to put together a 12-4 run and hung on in the final seconds to earn a 52-49 win.
Scarborough senior center and captain Jim Hiltner scored 15 points and had nine rebounds in the game, scoring 12 in the second half to lead the Red Storm during crunch time. Senior forward Andy Pogar, another captain, scored 11 and had seven rebounds, and junior guard Ian Philbrick pitched in with an even 10 points, seven coming in the second quarter in less than thirty seconds on three consecutive steals.
For the Mustangs, sophomore guard Jimmy Thyng paced the offense with 15 points and six rebounds. Junior guard Connor O’Neill had 12 points and five rebounds, and junior forward Nolan Rollins added 11 points with five rebounds.
The Mustangs opened strong, gaining a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. If not for a late three-point shot by Philbrick, Massabesic would have created a nine-point deficit over the Red Storm, rather than the six-point lead they had.
“We started out pretty flat,” said Hiltner. “We didn’t have the right mentality going into the game, and (Massabesic) definitely stepped up the pressure.”
“I thought they probably took us a little lightly,” said Massabesic head coach John Carter. “We came out and jumped on them pretty quickly. I guess that’s one thing you’ve got going for you when you’re one-and-whatever, people are going to take us lightly.”
The Mustangs continued the up-tempo pace going into the second quarter, but were caught off-guard by Scarborough halfway through when Philbrick had three straight steals resulting in seven points for the Red Storm, cutting Massabesic’s lead to just one point.
“(Philbrick), really at the end of the first half, was the one that brought it. Getting seven points in a row was huge for us, and that gave us a lot of momentum,” said Hiltner.
The lead changed hands consistently during the remainder of the second quarter, and the score was knotted at 24-24 at halftime.
“We decided in the locker room at halftime that we needed to really step it up, and that didn’t show until the fourth quarter when we were able to finally pull away. Finally, we were able to figure out where the ball needed to go,” said Hiltner.
Neither team was able to gain a clear advantage going into the second half. Scarborough went up to start the third, after junior guard Garrett Alofs hit a basket and made it a three point play after a foul, yet Massabesic tied the score after that on a three pointer from Thyng. The back-and-forth action continued during the quarter, and at the end Massabesic was up by one point going into the fourth.
The fourth quarter set the stage for Hiltner to take control of the contest. The Red Storm opened the fourth going on a 12-4 run, with eight points coming from Hiltner on three assists from Alofs. While the Mustangs scored the final six points in the game, time quickly ran out and Scarborough was able to avoid being upset on their home court.
“I couldn’t have gotten the ball without people passing it to me, so it really took a lot of people to get the win. I didn’t do it all on my own,” said Hiltner.
“It was a very intense game,” said Carter. “It’s not just about the X’s and O’s, it’s about being intense, about wanting to win, and I thought they did that. We had a couple of moments where we had a couple of mental lapses, and that cost us. That one in the second quarter hurt. But, we competed.”
The win moves Scarborough up to 9-5, and the loss drops Massabesic to 1-13. The Red Storm will look to continue their push towards the playoffs when they go on the road against Biddeford on Jan. 29, while Massabesic will face off against Westbrook at home, also on the Jan. 29.
“We’ve played (Biddeford) a lot in the last couple of years, so we know what they’re going to bring,” said Hiltner. “They’re going to be just as tough as Massabesic.”
“Westbrook is next, and I think we know what we’ve got to do. We’ve just got to finish games,” said Carter. “We’ve been in a lot of games like that, and we’re just not finishing in the end. But, we’ll get there.”
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