On Feb. 26, with three minutes left in the game, head coach Jim McKeon took out the starting seniors and put in all the seniors on the bench in honor of their last high school game. As each senior switched in and out, the crowd gave a standing ovation to the effort and resilience the Blue Devils put into their Westfield basketball career.
The Blue Devils played Linden, a top 10 team in the state with a record of 17-9. Both teams started the game strong, with Linden leading 12-10 at the end of the first quarter, and Westfield taking a temporary lead in the second quarter. The game got rowdy as it continued, with the Linden cheerleaders giving lots of energy to their team.
Linden made their way up on the scoreboard, but the Blue Devils didn’t stop trying. They worked hard and found baskets despite the score difference. Sophomore Talan Lewis said, “We went into the game with the goal of slowing the other team down and not backing down.”
The Blue Devils went into the game with a new plan. Senior Aidan Wall said, “We decided we wanted to run a 3 2 zone, which is something we have not run in the past, to not let them walk over us. I think it worked really well and ensured they didn’t beat us by a lot.” However, Wall noted that one of the team’s weak spots today was rebounding. “Linden has two guys who are about seven feet tall, so they dominated in that aspect,” Wall said.
In agreement, McKeon said, “I know the score at the end says different, but the team executed the game plan, played hard and played for one another. It’s hard to sustain that for four quarters against a top ten team in the state, but it was not due to a lack of effort.”
Despite Linden’s dominant performance, the team was reminded of the evolution and progress they made throughout the season through their work together and their team chemistry. “I think we really came together as a team in the second half of the season; we were a totally different team in the second half than the first,” said Wall. “Our final record does not reflect who we are as a team, and we were ultimately all there for each other throughout.”
