Westford Academy Boys’ Basketball suffered their sixth loss of the season by a score of 40-38 on Tuesday, Jan. 30 on the road against Concord-Carlisle, falling to 7-6 on the season.
It was an up and down game for WA. Despite never truly finding a sustainable rhythm on offense, the Ghosts were able to scrap their way to remain in the game from start to finish. WA experienced being at a 15-point deficit and also holding a one-point lead. The ups and downs against CC are a good representation of the season so far for WA Boys’ Basketball, now sitting at 7-6 on the year.
“When you don’t play your best all the time, this is the result,” head coach Christopher Bramanti said. “We need more consistency. I’m not quite sure how we will get there, but we will continue to practice and try to get better.”
The first quarter began with junior Vishal Rampur winning the tip for WA. After an empty first possession and several turnovers from WA, CC wasted no time, knocking down two three-pointers and a layup to take an early 8-0 lead, forcing a WA timeout.
Senior Jonathan Coughlin drilled a three-pointer following the timeout, getting WA on the board. CC then answered the bell with back-to-back layups to extend their lead to 12-3 with one minute remaining in the quarter.
After both teams turned the ball over within the final minute of the quarter, junior Andrew O’Brien found himself with the ball at the top of the key with just two seconds left and knocked down a buzzer-beating three. The three from O’Brien cut CC’s lead to just six, but WA remained in a 12-6 hole.
After gaining a spark of energy from the O’Brien buzzer beater, WA’s energy was immediately shut down by CC to begin the second quarter. CC scored nine unanswered points to begin the frame, coming from three straight three-pointers, extending their lead to 21-6.
Rampur was finally able to put an end to the run by getting a bucket in the post and cutting CC’s lead down to 13. WA was then able to get a stop on the defensive end, which led to a three-pointer from senior Nick Russo, getting WA back in the game with five minutes remaining in the first half.
The next three minutes of gameplay were low scoring for both teams. WA and CC both turned the ball over several times while also missing multiple shot attempts. With just two minutes remaining in the half, Rampur finally got WA back on the board by getting fouled, but CC answered right back with a trip to the line of their own. After coming up empty on their final possession of the half, WA headed into halftime down 22-15.
CC once again came out of the break with energy, putting up a quick five points to start the second half. This time, WA came back even stronger, going on a quick 12-2 run thanks to buckets from Rampur, sophomore Teddy Hirbour, and junior Jesse Moran, cutting CC’s lead down to just one.
Hirbour then hit a clutch layup to give the Ghosts their first lead of the game, igniting the bench. However, CC quickly answered once again with a bucket of their own. WA then committed back-to-back offensive fouls, giving CC the chance to rebuild their lead, and they took it. A 6-0 run to end the quarter gave CC a 37-32 lead headed into the fourth and final frame.
The first possession of the fourth quarter resulted in a layup for CC, but the next two minutes were littered with turnovers from both teams. A Russo layup followed by a turnover from CC gave WA some momentum for the first time since the beginning of the third quarter, and forced CC to call a timeout with four minutes remaining.
After the timeout, Rampur and Hirbour scored six straight points to cut CC’s lead down to just two with three minutes left in the game. Both teams committed multiple turnovers down the stretch, causing it to be anybody’s game headed into the final minute. A missed WA shot attempt appeared to seal the game with only a few seconds remaining, but after a turnover on the inbound, WA had one final possession. WA got off a good look, but it was unable to find the bottom of the net, giving CC a 40-38 win.
“We worked hard in the second half when we could have quit,” Bramanti said. “I think we can build on that moving forward. We can be better on defense, but more importantly, we need to fix our offense. We are not executing the way we should.”
The Ghosts’ next matchup is at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2 at home against Cambridge Rindge & Latin.
“We are on to Cambridge. We can’t worry much beyond that,” Bramanti said. “We know Cambridge will be a super tough game, so we need to put in the work in practice to make sure we are ready Friday night.”
