This winter, the entire town of Westbrook was abuzz with excitement and that was thanks to the boys' basketball squad, which put in its most successful season ever in school history. The Knights not only finished with an overall 19-4 mark-the most wins in school history-but boasted an unstoppable lineup that took Westbrook to unchartered heights.

Some of the most notable times for Westbrook came when it went undefeated for 17 straight games, taking the Shoreline Conference by storm and making the Knights the most feared team in the league. Westbrook suffered its first loss of the season to a tough East Hampton team, but continued to show perseverance despite some injuries that could've derailed the squad.

"We had one major injury in Faruk Cecunjanin in which we lost him for nine games and a series of other smaller injuries, but we were able to maintain our focus and find ways to win close games," said Coach Jeff Beeman. "I like to refer to it as using smoke and mirrors to slip by a few people. But winning is the name of the game and we did that for the first 17 games."

Westbrook went into the Shoreline Conference Tournament ranked second behind Cromwell and beat Coginchaug in the quarterfinals before falling to East Hampton in the semis. The Knights then earned a No. 5 seed and after earning a first-round bye in the Class S State Tournament, made an unexpected early exit after losing to Immaculate in the second round.

"We gave East Hampton a better game [than the first time around], but they were better than us that night even at full strength," said Beeman. "And every loss at the end of the year is a tough loss, but you never want to lose not having played your best basketball. Unfortunately, we had a poor showing from top to bottom-our execution was below par, our shooting was 20 percent below our average, and we were forced out of our defensive comfort zone. It all adds up to an exit from states and a lot of tears and consoling in the locker room."

Carrying the Knights were its seniors in guard Cade Muckle, guard/forward Jordan Bernard, center Mike O'Connell, guard Sam Grigo, center Chris Dahl, guard/forward Faruk Cecunjanin, and forward Connor Cole. Muckle was named the team's MVP and was the leading scorer with 17.36 points per game, 2.32 assists, and 7.32 steals/deflections. He was also named Shoreline Player of the Year and to the New Haven Tapoff Club All-County team. Grigo finished as the third-leading scorer in school history with 1,127 total points and led the area in three-point shooting with 88, while he was also named First Team All-Shoreline and to the CHSCA All-Star team and New Haven Tapoff All-County Academic team, additionally earning the Coaches' Award at season's end. Dahl was the team's leading rebounder with an average of six per game and was named Most Improved Player, while additionally being named to the New Haven Tapoff Club All-County Academic team. Lastly, Bernard earned the Coaches' Award as well.

"I think we had a great year and that my graduating seniors are a special group that will be hard to replace athletically," said Beeman. "They played loose and with confidence throughout the year and now have a piece of history that every team will be chasing. I believe that they'll also have a patent pending for the 'Swaggy W.'"

With so many seniors graduating, Beeman admits next year's team will be much different.

"We'll be a different type of team next year, but count on us competing, playing hard and smart, and with humility and enthusiasm," he said