With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, senior Megan Logan and junior Mairin Fowler sank back-to-back threes to tie up the game at 49-49. However, a turnover by Westfield allowed Union Catholic to go on to take the lead and hand the Blue Devils a 53-51 loss in the final seconds of the game.
From the first tip-off, the Blue Devils and Vikings came out strong trading baskets on either end. Logan and senior tri-captain Sophie Lane secured a number of points, which UC players matched almost immediately. During the second quarter, UC gained momentum and was able to pull away, giving Westfield a tough challenge to come back from in the second half. The Vikings were up 29-23 at the half.
However, this would not be all for the Blue Devils. While they may have lacked defensive intensity in the first half, head coach Liz McKeon’s message to the team in the locker room gave them the energy they needed for the rest of the game.
McKeon’s message to the team was that “we need to step up our defensive intensity. We usually give up around 40 points a game and we had given up 29 in the first half. So we really needed to change our defensive effort and switch some things up,” she said.
At the start of the second half, the Blue Devils energy rebounded. Shot after shot found the basket, and senior Darby Hubner’s conversion of multiple 3-pointers allowed the Blue Devils to go into the fourth quarter with a 40-36 lead.
Logan voiced how McKeon’s halftime talk fueled the girls’ efforts. “I think McKeon’s halftime talk helped, we knew how it [the game] would affect our seating going into the county tournament and we needed this win, so I think it fueled us a little, but not enough,” Logan said.
Even though the Blue Devils were unable to secure the win, their fight against UC showed their dedication and determination. “I’m proud of our effort. We didn’t start out great and we were coming off a loss, so it’s kind of hard to stay intense and focused all the time, but I think we gave it our all in the second half. We were down, and we came back and had a lot of intensity,” Fowler said.
Looking ahead, the Blue Devils are hoping to bounce back Thursday with a victory against New Providence at 7 p.m. as they prepare for the county tournament.
