LEWISTON — The only way Scarborough freshman Nick Fiorillo featured prominently in Lewiston’s scouting report is if the Blue Devils and their coaching staff closely followed the preceding junior varsity contest on Friday night.
Well, then again, maybe not.
“I had a rough JV game, but when I got into the (varsity) game, Coach (Tony DiBiase) likes me to shoot it, so I got my chances,” Fiorillo said. “It went in and I kept going.”
And with that, Lewiston’s chances to get back on the winning track were going, going, gone. Fiorillo rang up a career-high 21 points, all but four in the second half, and staked Scarborough to a 62-29 boys’ basketball rout.
Fiorillo rained down four 3-pointers, all after intermission to help the Red Storm rip open what was a tenuous 27-20 advantage. Emmett Peoples poured in three from beyond the arc and added 17 points.
Scarborough (3-7) snapped a four-game winless streak while extending the losing skid for Lewiston (2-8) to three. The Blue Devils fell to 0-8 against Class AA competition.
Two nights after shooting 19 percent from the same floor against Edward Little, Lewiston was a wretched 3-for-26 in the second half and 22 percent (12-for-54) overall.
“We fought in all the other games. We’ve been beaten, but tonight we were defeated,” Lewiston coach Tim Farrar said. “This one hurts. This one really hurts, Back-to-back performances like that at home, it’s really hard to figure.”
Abdinasir Issack scored his team-high eight points all in the first half for Lewiston. Nate Albert, a 6-foot-7 senior, added six points off the bench.
It was no match for Fiorillo, who didn’t make his first shot until 5:53 remained in the first half, yet still outscored Lewiston’s starting lineup by himself.
“I can’t ask for much more than that,” Fiorillo, who scored 15 in a loss at Windham on Dec. 30. “That was pretty good.”
Albert answered Fiorillo’s 17-footer from the baseline with an inside bucket to get Lewiston within three, 17-14, at the 5:11 mark.
Fiorillo fought back with another midrange jumper, courtesy of Morgan Pratt, then returned the favor by finding Pratt for a 3-pointer.
“You don’t have to hit too many to stretch it on us. Any shot going in for them felt like a dagger,” Farrar said. “This is the most frustrated we’ve been as a group. You could see it out there tonight. I felt like the weight just kept adding as the game went on.”
Issack scored a pair of baskets down the stretch, but Peoples put down two free throws and one of Scarborough’s eight 3-pointers to stave off the Devils’ best chance to break out of their offensive funk.
Lewiston missed its first seven shots of the second half while turning it over three times. Fiorillo scored six during a corresponding 11-0 Storm surge to open the quarter.
“I would say there’s some things we could have done as coaches to get them more ready,” Farrar said. “I thought we had a plan against that 1-3-1 (zone). We changed some things at halftime, something that we hadn’t worked on enough. Put that on us as coaches.”
After Mohamedsidiq Hussein broke the spell for Lewiston, Fiorilo buried another 3-pointer, followed by Jaquan Seme’s conventional 3-point play.
It was 44-24 after three.
“We’ve been struggling lately,” Fiorillo said. “We’ve played some good teams, like Portland, but we never gave up. We’re just trying to get back on the road with some wins and hopefully get into the tournament.”
Albert scored the Devils’ lone field goal in the fourth period off a steal.
Lewiston couldn’t generate the customary momentum from defensive pressure due to 23 giveaways of its own. Seme led Scarborough’s defensive effort with five steals. Reece Lagerquist tore down 11 rebounds.
“It’s gut check time. It really is. After these last two games, we’re a bewildered, confused and defeated group right now,” Farrar said. “I know we have eight games left. We have time to figure it out. I’ve got great kids. I’ve enjoyed working with this group, and tonight’s not indicative of the season we’ve had.”
koakes@sunjournal.com
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