Memo Zabala scores school record 60 points but the hoop Rams still lose to Lincoln 74-68
January 31, 2024 at 11:43 p.m.
Port Chester basketball's high-scoring Rams Dominican Republic senior transfer Guillermo (Memo) Zabala scored a school record 60 points against Lincoln in the Senior Game at home last Friday (1/26), but the Rams lost 74-68 in a game that showcased Port Chester hoops at its best and worst.
Nobody in Ram basketball history has ever done it better than Zabala, who singlehandedly took the team on his shoulders from a 19-point deficit and almost carried them all the way to the finish line. Zabala had the flawed but scrappy Rams within one, three and four points at various times in the final two minutes, but that's as close as the mistake-prone team ever got.
Passer, not gunner
What makes Zabala's unprecedented scoring outburst especially noteworthy was the fact that Memo didn't gun, was continually double teamed, and kept trying to get his teammates involved as a pass first point guard right down to the very end, often passing up shots in which he was the best option to give his open teammates a chance to score.
But the Rams weren't up to closing the deal. They couldn't and didn't score. And couldn't play defense when it counted. Or even when it didn't. Even though they tried hard. Especially at the end. But while Zabala seemingly couldn't miss, the Rams rarely hit and couldn't seem to avoid defensive breakdowns that included errant passes, failure to box out and rebound, and even double dribbled in a pivotal moment while playing tight and tense in crunch time.
The traditional intro
Before the game began, there was the traditional Senior Game ceremony. First year Rams hoop coach Greg Cole said "it is no secret" that it has been a disappointing season, but the team always played and worked hard as he introduced his seniors including talented baseball players Ryan Gagnon and Joey Ciciriello, football quarterback Nate Provenchar, cross country runner Orhan Eski (whose 4.0 scholastic average and high SAT scores make him one of the smartest kids in the school) and Zabala, the Rams’ only year-round basketball player and the team's best player by far.
That may have foretold the story of the game. Because the hoop Rams have talented players in other sports. But Zabala, who has played on winning teams in the Dominican that have won tournaments there as well as in Puerto Rico and beyond, is the only true basketball player.
And it showed.
Veteran coach speaks
"In congratulating Memo after the game, I told him he played a great game, maybe the greatest in Port Chester history, but his biggest mistake, if it was a mistake, was not shooting more instead of trying to keep his teammates involved by passing too much because, sad to say, he doesn't have a basketball team around him," according to a veteran coach who prefers to remain nameless.
But, just as sad to say, the veteran coach was right.
Because, quarter by quarter, the statistics proved the coach was right on. From the get-go. Because Zabala, Port Chester's returning All-Conference player from last season when he was one of the highest scorers in Section One, was the Rams’ main—and really only—offensive threat.
He played a game to remember, the team played a game to forget.
Zabala was like a man playing against boys, a pro going up against amateurs. With the Rams, it was a different story: They were outhustled, outmuscled, outrebounded, outshot, out run and just plain out of it. And the result was Memo couldn't do it alone. Although he came close.
The 'overrated' chant
Cole did the right traditional thing by starting an all-senior lineup on Senior Night. But they had never started together before and played like it. Lincoln's coach saw how tight, tense and unsure they were and had his team pressing full court from the get-go. Lincoln stole just about everything that moved but Zabala, rushing off to a 30-11 first quarter lead. Zabala seemed to be the only Ram who could score, notching nine of the team's 11 points while keeping his cool and acting as a playmaker for a team that couldn't seem to make plays as the Lincoln fan base tried to rattle Memo with a chant of "overrated." But not for long. Because Memo had the game to shut them down.
Coaching staff poses with the seniors at last Friday’s game honoring them. From left, Coach Aaron Pettiford, Coach Ernie Washington, Guillermo Zabala, Kesley Siqueira, Coach Greg Cole, Coach Austen Lamont, Ryan Gagnon, Joey Ciciriello, Nathan Provenchar, Orhan Eski and David Pascual.By Lennon Anderson
Cole substituted and the Rams looked better in the second quarter. The trouble was that Zabala was still the only Ram who could score, notching 18 points on a variety of drives despite being double and sometimes even triple teamed. So Port Chester went into halftime trailing 36-31. Zabala had 27 of Port Chester's 31 points at that point. And the Lincoln fans had long since stopped chanting "overrated" whenever Memo got the ball.
In the third quarter, it was shaping up as anybody's ball game right up until the closing minutes when Lincoln surged to a 51-44 lead. Memo had 11 points, meaning he had 38 of the 44 points the Rams had scored up until then. And by that time, Lincoln had two players on him, one on his left, one on his right, every time he got the ball on a pass in, pushing and shoving to slow him down, with one waiting to close off the middle. Only they couldn't.
Hit the open man
Because Memo is a baller. And an experienced one at that. So he knew if Lincoln was all over him, there were Rams open. And he tried to hit the open man with accurate passes. But the Rams telegraphed their moves as though moving in slow motion and either had their shots blocked, couldn't hit them or threw the ball away. And yet Memo kept coming, scoring 22 points in a fourth quarter for the ages, even stepping back to hit a three from way behind the key and a jumper from the foul line after the refs didn't give him a call on three drives where he got hit so hard he was sent sprawling to the ground without a foul being called. That's at least six throws Memo never got.
And that's how it ended with the score Lincoln 74, Memo 60, and the rest of the Rams mostly MIA with a not-so-grand total of eight points.
So, how could that add up to a game that showcased Port Chester basketball at its best and worst?
Because Port Chester has given Zabala a chance to learn with all the help he needs academically in school as well as play the game he loves starting with last year when he came here from the Dominican without being able to speak a word of English. He left behind most of his family, friends, the fast-paced Dominican hoops teams he played for and the sun, sand and surf he grew up with so he could dream the American dream by joining his father, stepmother and a new family in the projects of the blue collar melting pot that is Port Chester. And late at night, when he thought everybody was sleeping and nobody was listening, he cried himself to sleep because learning English was so hard and high school was so frustrating because he had to think in two different languages and translate accordingly. But the one time everything made sense was when he had a basketball in his hands and his game did his talking for him. And Memo started to get recognition as an All-League and All-Conference player who could have and should have made All-Section if he played for a team that didn't have a losing record.
And now a year later, thanks to his Port Chester High School education and the efforts of his teachers and coaches, his English is better and so are his grades and he is already just 10 points short of the 1,000-point careermark while drawing All-Star interest despite his still playing for a losing Rams team as his second varsity basketball season draws toward a close. But between his transferred Dominican school records, his need for more required English and history courses, and his rough first year here, he may not have enough credits to graduate this year. So he has his fingers crossed that he may yet attract prep school or junior college/community college athletic scholarship interest with his cross over moves on the basketball court. As of now, all Memo can do is continue to play his heart out, keep trying to involve his teammates while working hard to help up their game. Time is running out on the winter season, but the Rams can still hope for the best in the remaining days and games ahead against Lincoln away Friday (2/1) and Horace Greeley at home Tuesday (2/6), both at 5 p.m.
That's the best case scenario. As for the worst, just look at the difference between what Zabala scored against Lincoln and what the rest of the Rams did and draw your own conclusions.
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