The final minute of the fourth quarter was littered with fouls from the Blue Devils in an attempt to stop the clock and quickly regain possession. The Union Catholic player stepped up to the line and consistently made his 2 free throws, further increasing the gap between the two teams. In the final 9 seconds, UC was in control of the ball, taking it past mid court and dribbling around, draining the clock. At the end of the game, the Vikings landed on top by a significant margin.
The final score of the Thursday night game was 54-43. The Vikings only pulled away during the final quarter, while Westfield fought to keep up all game. They rarely held a lead, but kept catching up and tying the score multiple times until the fourth quarter. “This year we’ve really been focusing on being a four-quarter team and playing hard for all four quarters and having that fire,” said senior captain Shane Sheehan.
Union Catholic attempted and made more three point shots than Westfield, which allowed them to add large chunks to their lead in an instant. “They had some big threes coming out into the second half and we had a couple of shots in the fourth quarter that just hit the front of the rim. You know, they made a few more than us and then they knocked free throws down at the end,” said head coach Jim McKeon.
Last season, Union Catholic won the NJSIAA Non-Public A Group Tournament. They are not without weaknesses, however. “Physicality, it definitely a weakness for them,” McKeon said. “We tried to expose that, I thought we played super tough today.”
The game was competitive and gritty, with the Blue Devils pushing their way through the UC defense by force, working for each basket. Junior Tyshawn Pearson added, “We all played hard, played better than the last two games. Going into this game we were prepared. At the end of the day UC came out on top, but we were still competitors.” Pearson put up 19 hard-earned points, nearly half of Westfield’s total. He attributes his performance to his teammates, “Honestly I just try to create for my teammates, if I go, I go. If I get in the paint, that helps.”
“I think we definitely showed competitive energy, and we didn’t come out on top but it was a good starting point for the season and I’m proud of my guys,” Sheehan added.
The Blue Devils will look to claim their first win of the season at Rahway on Saturday Dec. 23 at 12:30 p.m.
