KENNEBUNK — It wasn’t the prettiest start or cleanest finish for the Kennebunk High boys’ basketball team. But the Rams came away with a 54-50 victory over Falmouth in a Class A South season opener Friday night.
Kennebunk opened the second half on a 13-2 run fueled by sophomore Ian Murray to overcome an eight-point halftime deficit. Then it used a 10-2 spurt to start the fourth quarter to gain control against the Yachtsmen, regarded by most coaches as the team to beat this year.
Turnovers nearly allowed Falmouth to steal a win late in the game. Brady Coyne had a good look at a 3-pointer with about six seconds to play that would have put Falmouth up by a point. Instead, the ball caromed off the rim and eventually out of bounds. Kennebunk’s Adam Lux hustled down the ensuing long inbound pass, was fouled and made both ends of a 1-and-1 opportunity to seal the win.
“It was an ugly win but playing Falmouth the first game, the way they played (in the preseason), I knew it would be a really tough game,” said Kennebunk Coach David Leal. “We didn’t play very well but we had some spots where we had some nice runs.”
Murray, a 6-foot guard making his first varsity start, had 12 points. So did his older brother, Varsity Maine All-State forward Max Murray, and returning starter Kyle Pasieniuk.
Ian Murray provided a spark in the third quarter when he hustled around a screen to block a Nicco Pitre shot, then hit a 3-pointer in transition at the other end.
“That kind of gave us some momentum to make a run,” Ian Murray said.
Pasieniuk hit a huge step-back 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to snap a Kennebunk lull and give the Rams a 52-48 lead with a little over a minute to play.
Lux added nine and Tommy Lazos came off the bench for seven, making consecutive tough layups at the end of the third quarter to tie the game, 39-39.
Vinny Hanrahan scored 17 points to lead Falmouth, 10 coming on inside buckets in the second quarter when Falmouth had its best ball movement of the game. Michael Simonds scored 13 points on a tough 4-of-26 shooting night.
“We definitely didn’t want (Simonds) to get open with time because he’s a great shooter,” said Kennebunk guard Sam Tartre, who guarded Simonds most of the game. “Our main focus was just on limiting his space and open shots.”
Overall, Falmouth shot 20 of 72 from the floor (27.8 percent).
“It’s not playing together, guys doing too much, which always happens in the first game,” said Falmouth Coach Dave Halligan. “We don’t take running one-handers in practice. We must have taken 20 of them in this game. So we’ve got to solve that in practice.”
Kennebunk’s biggest issue was its 20 turnovers, many coming on rushed cross-court or full-court passes, and not finishing close to the basket (Max Murray shot 6 of 18). On the plus side, Murray and Lux did a good job of controlling the paint and the defensive boards in the second half.
“It’s the first game at home and a big crowd, so it’s a lot of nerves,” Max Murray said. “We just knew we came out cold in the first half and our shots were eventually going to fall.”
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