With 45 seconds left in the half, junior Enzo Ferrero received a pass as he stepped up to the left side of the 3-point line, a frequently run play which often caught the defense clustered in the middle of the court. With plenty of time and distance from the defenders, Ferrero methodically moved through his shot, adding another three points to Westfield’s impressive 46-6 lead.
At the half the scoreboard read DEVILS 46, VISITOR 6. Coming into the third quarter all of Westfield’s starters had been pulled, enabled by the comfortable lead they had just accumulated. Westfield barely eased up after the half and kept up with Roselle’s scoring 18-18 despite the absence of their starters. The final score was 64-26, truly demonstrating the commanding nature the Blue Devils assumed during this matchup.
The continued effort throughout the game was a lesson the Blue Devils have built upon throughout the season. After their third game of the season, a loss which dropped them to 0-3, senior captain Shane Sheehan had said, “This year we’ve really been focusing on being a four-quarter team.” A couple of weeks ago, Westfield had triumphed over Pioneer Academy 64-53. The score indicated a semi-close game, but the Blue Devils had dominated the first half, only to nearly become the victim of a comeback during the latter half of the game. After that game, senior Stephen Edwards had said “…We should have won by 50.” In the past week, two games have looked as dominant as that game had, but the final score reflected differently. Turning out 83-54 against North Brunswick and 64-53 against Roselle reflect the effort this team has taken to become a “four-quarter team.”
Though Westfield has defeated three straight opponents by a significant amount of points, there can be downsides to going on such a run. When asked how the Blue Devils can keep their focus, head coach Jim Mckeon said, “It’s on them. It was a point of emphasis coming into today too, staying focused. I think yesterday [against Monroe] was a good test for us and we did what we had to do. We don’t want any bad habits to develop from today and we executed well and did what we were supposed to. Now we just have to move on and see who we have Thursday.”
Even if their opponent is 1-18, as Roselle was coming into this game, there is an emphasis on treating each and every team “as the best team we’d play today,” as Sheehan put it. “It’s a county game, anything could happen and you want to take every game as seriously as possible. You have to keep the same mentality with everyone and play your game to move forward.” The mentality of focusing on the current situation and beating today’s opponent has helped Westfield through the past few weeks, and they have been 7-2 over their past 9, improving to 12-10 after this victory.
From the get go, Westfield dominated. Sophomore Jake Russell got the Blue Devils scoring started with a three-pointer immediately after the tip off. Not even ten seconds later, Russell forced a Roselle turnover that led to another couple of points for the Blue Devils. Led by Russell and junior captain Tyshawn Pearson, Westfield’s defense racked up 12 steals throughout the game, refusing to allow Roselle to get an offense going.
Westfield’s passing was also elite this game, collecting a total of 19 assists, including a couple of impressive alley-oops. Mckeon said, “[Passing] has been a point of emphasis from the beginning and our assists have been through the roof. Since we’ve been sharing [the ball], we’ve won seven of our last nine and you can see our assists are a real reason why.”
Every member of the team has focused on this aspect of the game, from the starters to the bench. Joining the game during the fourth quarter, Junior Ethan Zhu exemplified this. Even during brief playing time, Zhu and his teammates passed first, allowing for new scoring opportunities. “I tried to get points myself,” Zhu said, “but also looked to support the team and pass it around.” Zhu was able to score 4 points, and was one of Westfield’s 10 scorers, a result of their assist-heavy play.
The Blue Devils will further improve upon this going forward, beginning when they face off against the winner of the Summit vs. Arthur L. Johnson on Thursday at home.
