On Saturday night, the Blue Devils traveled to Elizabeth’s Thomas Dunn Sports Center to face Plainfield at a neutral site for the Union County Tournament quarterfinals. After trailing by just 1 after the first quarter, Westfield found themselves in an 11-point halftime deficit that they were unable to come back from. Plainfield continued to outscore Westfield in the second half, defeating Westfield 54-76.
A back-and-forth first quarter was the Blue Devils’ strongest showing of the game, trailing by just one at the end of the quarter. Despite playing from behind for most of the game, Westfield’s energy and toughness remained high for all four quarters. “We knew coming into the game we were the underdogs, and we had nothing to lose. We went out there and had fun, and we got to play in such a fun environment,” said senior tri-captain Jake Russell.
Everything had seemed to be working in the first half for the Blue Devils, trading baskets with the top team in the Union County Tournament. “We executed, moved the ball well, and hit open jumpshots [in the first half]. We competed at a much higher level and had less stress,” said head coach James McKeon.
A balanced scoring night from the Blue Devils was led by sophomore Talan Lewis, scoring 17, and junior Liam Washbourne, tallying 11. “We started strong from the get-go, we had energy, we were hitting our shots,” said Washbourne. “Starting strong and continuing that throughout the whole game is something that will propel us in the state tournament moving forward,” Washbourne added.
Coming out of the break, Plainfield went on a quick 10-4 run and continued to limit scoring opportunities for the Blue Devils throughout the quarter. Sophomore Jack Doherty hit a 3-pointer, leading to a quick timeout called by McKeon, but minimal shot opportunities for Westfield throughout the quarter led to just 10 more points on the board, and a 20-point deficit going into the final quarter of play.
Senior Aidan Wall opened the fourth quarter with a quick three for Westfield, but Plainfield did not slow down in the final eight minutes, with Cardinal’s junior Micah Gordon recording 31 points, breaking Plainfield’s all-time scoring record, which stood for 36 years.
“We have three games this upcoming week, and then we’ll be preparing for states next Tuesday. From there, we just have to win one game at a time,” McKeon said.
Westfield will travel to Immaculata High School for a regular-season matchup on Monday for their next game.
