After spending the game chasing Lenape from behind, the Blue Devils never stopped fighting. Following a three-pointer from senior tri-captain Megan Logan, Westfield found themselves down by eight with four minutes remaining. On the next possession following a steal, junior Mairin Fowler hit a jump shot. Westfield’s full-court press proved to be trouble for Lenape, as Westfield was able to pick off another pass and finish it for a layup, which capped off a 7-0 run in less than a minute and closed the gap to just four points with three minutes remaining. After a Lenape timeout, Westfield wasn’t able to find any success in the closing minutes, losing 52-42.
The Blue Devils have shown grit all season, and they didn’t go down without a fight. After a rough first quarter, going down 17-9, they switched into a zone defense, holding Lenape to just seven points in the second quarter. Senior tri-captain Darby Hubner credited their tough second-quarter defense to their past experiences, saying, “We’ve been in games before where the first quarter didn’t go our way, so we needed to just keep our composure and keep pushing, and I think that was definitely evident.”
Throughout the duration of the game, the sideline was electric. Pirating the Blue Devils’ sideline was head coach Liz McKeon. McKeon knew this game would be a battle, seeing as Lenape was historically an offensive powerhouse, so McKeon prepped her defense accordingly. In order to stay in this game, the defense was going to have to fuel the offense. After going down early, she said, “One possession at a time, that’s what we did. It starts with defense and goes from there.”
While preparing for the game, Westfield knew that Lenape possessed a strong offense, but more specifically had a standout player who had put up points with ease throughout the season. Junior El-Anita Joe-Samuel, number 21 for Lenape, ran their offense, bringing the ball up the court and scoring almost half of their points. Hubner talked about the challenges, saying, “Obviously, she’s a very strong player, so it was difficult to contain her, but focusing on everybody else was tough as well.”
Logan had a standout performance, tallying 14 pts, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal. There is no doubt that Logan was essential all season for the Blue Devils, but last night she truly shone. Dominating on both offense and defense, leading her team with composure, Logan’s individual efforts were nearly enough for the Blue Devils. Although they showed unrelenting energy and perseverance, the game didn’t fall in their favor. Despite the final score, Logan said, “I feel like we were sharing the ball well, moving it. We were breaking their defense, and especially our defense, we were boxing out, hustling, and getting all the 50-50 balls.”
Unfortunately, the referees were calling anything and everything, and the Blue Devils often found themselves on the wrong side of the whistle. McKeon said, “The officials sucked on both sides. No one’s here to see them. No one wants 20 fouls called in the 1st half. That’s for both teams, so that didn’t help the game whatsoever.”
Although this was not the end the Blue Devils had hoped for, the responsibility now lies in the hands of the underclassmen. Rising senior Mairin Fowler and rising junior Kate Cymbor look to use their experience to improve and come back better next year, in hopes of taking home the 2027 state championship.
