“We came in guns blazing,” said head coach Liz McKeon as Westfield entered into the gym of Scotch Plains-Fanwood to take on their rival: the Raiders.
Westfield dominated the first quarter of the game, maintaining high energy and keeping possession of the ball. Junior Laura Oliveria went up for a layup and landed on her ankle the wrong way, resulting in a pause halfway through the quarter. Oliveria ended up sitting out for the rest of the game with an injured ankle. Although the girls made countless shots, they fell short on their foul shots that could have helped prevent their deficit later in the game. Westfield ended the first quarter with a strong lead, 12-5.
Moving into the second quarter, the girls continued to have strong ball skills and were able to get off many shots. Westfield got more aggressive by having multiple fouls called against them which led the Raiders to obtain more foul shot opportunities. The score of the half ended tight, 17-16 Westfield.
In the third quarter, intensity on both sides of the ball increased. Westfield was able to make some room under their belt by making a few more points, but it did not take long for the Raiders to catch up to them. Halfway through the quarter, the score marked a chilling score, 23-22 Westfield. To many Westfield fans, players and coaches, the calls from the referees seemed to be one-sided. Freshman Maren Fowler said, “I think there were a lot of unfair calls. It impacted morale and made everyone angry. We didn’t play as well because of it.” The Raiders took the calls to their advantage and with a combination of foul shots and various two-point shots, the Raiders managed to turn the score in their favor, 34-27.
The Blue Devils looked as though they were losing hope and could not get their heads back in the game, when suddenly, senior captain Sara Rooney made a buzzer-beater 3-pointer to close off the third quarter.
During the fourth quarter, one could visibly see that Westfield regained their energy and were ready to fight for the final eight minutes of the game. In particular, Fowler and Rooney were bringing a significant amount of energy to this last quarter, as they hustled up and down the court, gained possession of the ball and hyped up their teammates. The team showed serious grit and worked together to score as many points as they could. But, there wasn’t enough time for the Blue Devils to catch up to the Raiders, and the final score read, 50-35.
Despite this tragic loss for Westfield, the team is ready to get back on the court to prepare for their next game on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. away against Oak Knoll. Senior captain Makenna Reed said, “We have to take the positives out of the game instead of the negatives and focus on that.” To follow Reeds’ take on the game, McKeon also gave insight on what the team can work on. “We are a young team and getting used to playing with each other and some of that growth is that sometimes you make some poor ball decisions.”
