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March 7, 2009

Westport repeats in Class D

By RYAN HAYNER

PLATTSBURGH — After trailing by one at the half, Westport outscored Moriah 30-15 in the second half en route to its second straight Section VII Class D boys' basketball title, 47-33, Saturday at the Plattsburgh State Field House.

The Eagles (19-1) receive a bye for the first round of regionals and resume play March 14 to take on the winner of Section X/Section II in the quarterfinals at SUNY Potsdam.

For the second consecutive year, Moriah was the team standing in Westport's path to regional play. Last season, the Eagles easily dispatched the Vikings, 45-19.

It wasn't so simple this time for Westport.

The Vikings held the Eagles, the No. 5-ranked Class D team in the state, to just six first-quarter points and took an 18-17 lead in to the half.

"They came out on fire," Westport coach Brad Rascoe said of Moriah.

Westport's Bo McKinley kept his team close in the first half, scoring seven straight points to cut the lead to one when his team was down seven midway through the second quarter.

In the third quarter, McKinley was fouled on a successful layup and converted the free throw to give the Eagles' their first lead of the game, 26-25, one they would not relinquish.

"[McKinley is] our leader out there," Rascoe said.

Westport led 47-33 in the fourth quarter and kept the lead by making enough free throws while Moriah tried to climb back. The Vikings could only cut the deficit to as low as four points with 3:20 left on a layup from Tyler Blaise, but that was Moriah's last successful shot.

The Eagles converted 12-of-22 from the free throw line in the fourth, including 10-of-16 in the final three minutes when Moriah went scoreless.

"The first half they were just closing us down inside. We came out [in the second half], went into our man-to-man defense and then our intensity picked up," Rascoe said.

McKinley finished with a game-high 17 points for Westport while the team's leading scorer, Nathan Gay, scored eight points and added 15 rebounds.

The Vikings may not have redeemed the loss from last season's finals blowout, but Rascoe credited Moriah for its improvement.

"We knew this would be a better game," he said.

Moriah (15-8) was paced by Hayden Whalen, who scored a team-high 15 points. Tyler Blaise chipped in 11.

—

Westport 47, Moriah 33

Westport (47)

Russell 0-1-1, Ware 0-0-0, McKinley 5-5-17, Sherman 2-1-6, Mead 1-1-3, Stahl 0-0-0, Davis 2-3-8, Tyler 1-0-2, MacIver 0-2-2, Stevens 0-0-0, Gay 0-8-8, Davis 0-0-0. Totals: 11-21-47.

Moriah (33)

Carlson 0-2-2, N. Gilbo 0-0-0, Petro 0-0-0, Martin 0-0-0, Blaise 4-3-11, Whalen 6-3-15, Tesar 2-0-5, Schofield 0-0-0, Belzer 0-0-0, M. Gilbo 0-0-0, Slattery 0-0-0, Fernandez 0-0-0, Speshock 0-0-0, Trombley 0-0-0. Totals: 12-8-33.

Westport6111416—47

Moriah11776—33

3-point goals: Westport (4): McKinley 2, Sherman, Davis. Moriah (1): Tesar.

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