Westbrook Boys' Basketball Beats Valley 57-45 Behind Grigo's 1,000th
Never mind that it was an early February Saturday night in Westbrook-the big stage was set for what seemed like a March postseason matchup between the undefeated Westbrook boys' basketball squad and defending state champion Valley Regional. In front of a standing-room-only crowd on Feb. 8, the Knights kept their unblemished record intact at 17-0 after a 57-45 defeat of the Warriors behind a monster offensive night from senior Cade Muckle (27 points) and senior Sam Grigo's 1,000th point with his total of 15 on the night.
"It's a big win. Everyone wants to knock us off because we're undefeated. We've been kind of doing with smoke and mirrors, trying to figure out different combinations and people have stepped up," said Coach Jeff Beeman. "What was even better was the defense we played. If you're a student of the game and you watched how we were matching up and the way we were taking people out of the game, that was more impressive to me than the offense. We had the ball bounce our way a few times, too. I'm always happy; I'm not always satisfied. I'm both happy and satisfied tonight."
The Knights dominated from the get-go, getting on the board first behind senior center Chris Dahl's two points off a rebound from a Grigo missed three. Valley junior Chris Jean-Pierre (16 points, 8 rebounds) knocked down a shot, but Grigo answered with a big three, marking his 1,000th career point.
"It's a good accomplishment, obviously-it took a lot of hard work and practicing-but it's also a team accomplishment, too, because my guys have to give me the ball. I do a lot of shooting so it's a lot on them to get me in good positions so I can do what I can do," said Grigo. "We haven't beaten these guys in a while and they're obviously a good team. They play good defense, they have a couple of really good players, so it's good to get this win, especially at home."
The Warriors (12-3) suffered their first turnover before Jean-Pierre finally got Valley on the board three minutes into the game. Dahl (6 rebounds, 4 blocked shots) scored two and Muckle blocked a shot, but Valley's offense was able to maneuver the ball around Westbrook's defense and Jean-Pierre scored again. Grigo (3 assists) launched another three, followed by two from Muckle out in front after the Warriors bobbled under its net and turned the ball over. Warriors' junior David Bradbury (12 points, 6 rebounds) notched two free throw points and Valley got another two from Jean-Pierre after a Peter Barry steal to close out the first quarter with Westbrook up 12-9.
The Warriors took their first lead in the second quarter. Bradbury led off the second-stanza scoring with two free throw points and Barry notched two after Muckle's layup. Muckle (8 rebounds) earned a free-throw point before Valley tied it up at 15-15 with his two-pointer. Valley's defense played tough, but got into some foul trouble as Muckle scored another free throw point and Knights' senior Jordan Bernard (5 points) notched two before Westbrook turned over the ball for the first time in the game. Hunter Linfesty scored two points, as did Bradbury, to make it 19-18 in favor of Valley-its first of two leads in the game. Muckle earned three free throw points and then ended the half with a two to send the Knights in to the locker room up 23-19.
"The environment was great, thanks to all the people who came out and supported us. It's very much appreciated. It was a good game, Valley's a great team and I'm happy we got a win," said Muckle. "[Losing Faruk Cecunjanin to injury] is a big loss and we could definitely use him, but the show must go on. Every time something happens, it's just an opportunity for someone else to step up. But don't get me wrong; we are very excited to have him back [for the state tournament.]"
Linfesty led off the third with two points after the Warriors missed two consecutive shots and Linfesty grabbed the rebound to score. Muckle again earned a free throw point before Bradbury (3 points) scored, bringing the score to 26-24 in favor of the Warriors. A turnover proved costly for Valley as Muckle got ahold of the ball and scored two, followed by a huge three from Bernard and two from freshman Liam Bell, who also ended the third with a blocked shot, and the third quarter score was 31-26 Westbrook.
The fourth quarter is where Westbrook set the tone and pulled away with the game. Grigo and senior Mike O'Connell scored four points combined before Jean-Pierre added two, yet Grigo put up another two before his monster three from way out that gave the Knights their biggest lead yet of 40-29. Jean-Pierre answered with his own three and Muckle then put up a three, much to the delight of the home crowd. Barry and Jean-Pierre each scored two for Valley and Muckle's two free-throw points were sandwiched in between as the Warriors' Barry and Bradbury each scored another two. Muckle (4) and Grigo (2) helped extend Westbrook's lead in free throw points while Linfesty was steady at the line and got Valley two himself. Bell (2) and Muckle (4) helped power Westbrook to the victory despite Jean-Pierre's late three-pointer as the Knights took home the 57-45 victory.
"Cade has averaged over 25 points per game over the last six games. A lot of people are also keying in on Sam because he's put in 56 or 57 threes so, if I'm coaching against me, I'm taking Sam out of the game. It was stellar defense-I can always find things we need to improve on, but I'm pretty satisfied after tonight."
Earlier in the week, Westbrook defeated Old Lyme 67-45 behind Grigo's 24 points, Muckle's 17, and Dahl's 10 with five rebounds. The Knights shot 18-for-29 from the field. The Knights then beat Hyde behind Muckle's 29 points and eight rebounds and Bernard's six points.