Westfield leads, 39-37. With Elizabeth on offense, the arena roared with energy. Halfway through the fourth quarter, Elizabeth’s fans were ready for their team to take away Westfield’s ever-shortening lead and win their season opener at home. Elizabeth’s ball handler let loose a three. The gym erupted as it went in. 40-39, Minutemen. Westfield would not retake the lead.
The Blue Devils’ 51-43 loss to Elizabeth to start their season was disappointing after three extremely well-played quarters. Westfield was the underdog coming in, as Elizabeth was ranked 16th in the state and came out playing great in a hostile environment. They went up 37-29 coming into the fourth quarter. “We competed,” said head coach James McKeon. “It’s a tough environment to come into, a top team in the state playing at the Dunn Center. It’s a huge gym. It’s a lot. For the first game, we handled all of that.” He was proud of his players’ poise and wanted them to simply play their game. “Our game plan is to take what the team gives us. Execute what we do every day. We can do it all. I really believe that.”
Westfield got the scoring started after co-captain Tyshawn Pearson intercepted an Elizabeth pass and finished with an easy layup. Pearson, a junior, finished the night with ten points along with a couple of steals. He helped set the tone for the Blue Devils, bringing the ball up the court and providing lockdown defense early.
Defense defined the first half, as both teams were limited to only 22 points off of mostly three-pointers and free throws. Both the Blue Devils and Minutemen seemed to be fighting opening-day nerves as there were several turnovers in the first few minutes of the game.
Westfield’s success early in the game came greatly from their three-point shooting. “We shot well in the first half, which is why we were where we were,” said McKeon. Junior Enzo Ferrero had a pair of threes in the first quarter, sophomore Jake Russel made one and sophomore Max Maceacheron made three of his own in the first half, making up 18 of the team’s 22 first-half points. “It’s big to hit those shots,” said McKeon. “The guys that were on the floor that hit those shots weren’t necessarily on the floor last year in this scenario. I think it boosted our confidence which is going to go a long way down the road.”
The team was enjoying themselves in the beginning of the game. Maceacheron said, “It was fun. The first half was fun.” Calm, cool and collected, he was able to make an impact beyond the arc.
The third quarter saw more success. Star center and co-captain Shane Sheehan got involved and scored nine points in the quarter. He would end with 11. Up eight going into the fourth quarter, the Blue Devil lead would not last. Sheehan said, “I think we came out a little flat in the fourth, and we let them get on a run.” The Minutemen started applying a lot of pressure on Westfield’s ball handlers in the backcourt, and it broke down the Blue Devil offense. “That’s what they do,” said McKeon. “They cause havoc and thrive off of it. We didn’t handle it well. It’s hard to recreate what they do in practice. It’s not something that we can just draw up. They’re physical, they’re quick. They took the ball, they played good defense.”
The Minutemen’s go-ahead three-pointer with four minutes left in the fourth quarter put them up one, and they took their lead and ran with it, using the energy of the Dunn Center to power their way through the rest of the game. Strong defense and conservative offense ran the clock down to the final seconds. Ferrero and junior Zach Epp fouled out, leaving the Blue Devils with less starters to work with towards the end of the game.
Although they came out with a loss, the strong execution that Westfield played with, especially with many younger players on the team, points towards a successful season to come. McKeon noted that their execution will improve: “That’s what practice is for. But the environment and all of that stuff that goes into the Dunn Center our guys handled that no problem. I don’t think that had an effect on us at all, so that’s a good sign going forward.”
Westfield will look for their first win of the season against Linden at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at home.
