Westport High School gymnasium was shaken as the boys basketball team lost to Mashpee 62-58 in a South Division 4 home playoff game on Wednesday night. Junior forward Max Powers had a monster game, scoring 25 points for the Wildcats, who had to play without their senior captain, Connor Lecomte after he broke his ankle in the last game of the season. Also junior forward Donjae Raiche was out with a hand injury and pep band drummer Mike Braga was out with the flu.

Still the Wildcats came out “swinging” as Domanick Vitorino won the tip off for Westport. The gym was deafening. All the bleachers were filled with cheering fans from both teams, the cheerleaders and the pep band. Mashpee scored first. But Aidan Rock tied the game with a three pointer from the left side of the arch to make it 3-3 with 6:30 to go in the first quarter. The Wildcats started Aidan Viveiros and Max Mendell along with Powers, Rock and Vitorino. Powers hit a layup from the paint and tied the game at 6-6, then put the Wildcats ahead 8-6, with 2:45 to play in the quarter. But Mashpee came back and scored on a jumper and a foul shot to go up 9-8. Nick Payne and Hunter Brodeur spelled Rock and Viveiros. Payne brought down an offensive rebound and tried to put it back up, but was fouled. He sunk one of two to tie the game at 9-9 with 53 seconds left. Mashpee senior guard Kendall Rose (22 points) hit a layup beating the Wildcats down the court on a fast break to make it 11-9, but Powers forced his way to the basket and hit a jumper to even the game, 11-11 as the quarter ended. 

Second quarter 

Powers hit two running jumpers from the paint to put Westport up 15-13 with 6:18 to play in the second quarter. Vitorino drove the lane and was fouled. He sunk his free throws for a 17-13 Westport lead. 

Then the team went cold. Nick Payne and Max Mendell got to the line three times, but neither could sink a free throw. As a team, the Wildcats missed nine free throws in the first half, which hurt them down the stretch. 

Meanwhile, Mashpee took advantage of Westport’s missed opportunities with their fast break as Falcons forward Matt Bowen grabbed rebounds and threw Tom Brady like passes to Rose. Wildcats head coach Scot Boudria inserted smaller, yet, speedy guards Brodeur and Luke Parker to combat Mashpee’s speed. It worked for a while. Powers hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead, 19-21 with 1:10 in the quarter. The move left just Powers and Vitorino to work against Mashpee’s bigs on the boards. Coach Boudria put Payne in for Parker, but the Falcons had gained momentum and scored seven straight points for a 28-19 halftime lead. 

Third quarter

Powers, Vitorino and Rock were dynamite in the third quarter, combining for 21 points as Westport battled back to lead 43-42 at the end of the third quarter.

Rock took a pass from Mendell and sped down the paint by Mashpee guard Ryan Hendricks for a layup to cut the lead 21-28 with 7:19 left in the quarter. Both Rock and Vitorino pounded the boards and grabbed multiple rebounds down the stretch. 

Liveries found Vitorino underneath for a close range jumper to make the score 23-30 with 6:25. Powers scored twice on back to back layups from Vitorino passes after he pulled down defensive rebounds to slice the lead to 27-34 with 3:43 left in the quarter. Rock hit a jumper to make it 29-40 with 2:54 left in the quarter. Coach Boudria called a time out to give his starters a rest as much as talk strategy. Vitorino passed the ball in to Viveiros who gave it right back. The athletic forward curled and sank a jumper from the middle of the paint, 31-40. Powers made it 33-40 with 2:02 left, driving the lane for a layup. Vitorino grabbed another defensive rebound, raced up court, downed a layup and collected a foul sending the hometown fans into a ruckus. He drained it, to slash the lead 36-40 with 1:40 left in the quarter and Mashpee coach Justin Clark called a time out.

It didn’t help. Powers worked a jumper between two defenders and sunk it, 38-40 with 1:12 left. 

Mashpee forward Nick Santos ran into Rock along the baseline and turned the ball over. Viveiros brought the ball up and found Rock on the arch in front of the Wildcats bench. He took a three and sunk it. The crowd went wild as Rock gave the Wildcats the lead, 41-40, with 38 seconds left in the third quarter. The sophomore guard grabbed the defensive rebound sped the length of the court and sunk a flying jumper from the paint to give Westport a 43-40 lead. But Rose hit a jumper to cut it to 43-42 as time ran out in the third quarter. 

The Wildcats had come back, but they burned a lot of energy.

Fourth quarter

In the fourth quarter, Mashpee suddenly found their outside range and hit four three pointers. 

Powers hit two free throws to make it 45-42. Rock drove the lane to make it 47-45 with 6:44 left in the game. Mashpee guard Kaiden Silva hit a jumper to give the Falcons the lead 48-47 with 6:09 left. 

Vitorino hit a free throw and sank a bucket after a Mashpee technical foul to tie the game 50-50 with 5:33 left. 

Then Mashpee took over. The Falcons went on a 10-1 run to build a 60-51 lead with 1:51 to play. The Wildcats were down, but they never gave up. Coach Boudria called a time out to talk strategy. The Wildcats were going to wait to foul and take their chances with their defense. Rock forced his way to the basket and collected a foul. He knocked down both shots to trim the lead to 53-60 with 1:18 left. Rock grabbed a defensive rebound and got the ball to Max Mendell. He drove the lane and collected a foul. He made them both to cut it to 55-60 with 51 seconds left. The D forced another Mashpee turnover and Mendell was fouled again as he took a jumper from outside the paint. He sunk them both to slice the lead to 57-60 with 25 seconds left to play. Westport fouled Rose and he sunk two for a Falcons 62-57 lead with 23 seconds left. The Wildcats killed time trying to score, finally Powers was fouled driving the lane. He sunk one to cut the lead to 58-62 with just 6 seconds left. Viveiros stole the ball and lobbed up a three but it caromed off the glass as time ran out for Westport. 

Scoring: Max Powers scored 25 points, Aidan Rock scored 14, Domanic Vitorino scored 9, Max Mendell scored 6, Hunter Brodeur scored 3, Nick Payne scored 1