As the No. 18 ranked team in the state, Westfield faced No. 3 ranked Roselle Catholic, with optimistic feelings of an upset. Coming out of tight wins against strong teams such as Ridge, Elizabeth and Linden, there was a glimmer of hope in Westfield’s eyes.
The first quarter seemed promising as Westfield put six points on the board before Roselle Catholic came close to a basket. The Lions quickly responded, maintaining a back-and-forth lead, to close out the first quarter, winning 20-16.
The downfall of the second quarter dug the Blue Devils into a deep hole for the rest of the game. As Roselle Catholic managed to gain 20 points with a handful of three-pointers, Westfield only added 7 points to their score, ending the first half down, 40-23. Head coach Jim McKeon said, “We didn’t show up to play. They [Roselle Catholic] changed. They tried, and then we didn’t, and we turned the ball over 22 times, that’s more than half their points, so we gave it away.”
After a 17-point differential preceding the first half, a comeback did not look too promising for the Blue Devils. Junior Jake Russel said, “They kept getting momentum, getting out in transition, and they beat us up the court and on passes. We couldn’t really handle their speed.”
Senior tri-captain Zach Epp described the game as, “a little bit slow, a little bit underwhelming. They are ranked third in the state, but we shouldn’t have thought about it that way. We should have come out with even more energy because they are a good team.” This ultimately led to a final score of a 59-40 win for Roselle Catholic.
Westfield slightly gained momentum in the fourth quarter, but not enough to regain the win. Defensively, Westfield excelled only allowing the Lions to add three points to their score. Offensively, the Blue Devils accomplished to outshoot Roselle Catholic, clinching 11 more points.
Epp said, “The only positive we can take away from this game is just a wake up call and bring that into the next game so we don’t get bounced out of the first round of the counties.”
Westfield is back in action on Feb. 7 as they face Irvington away at 1 p.m. Before then, Russel said, “We need to practice harder and translate that to our games.” Adding to that, Epp said, “We have to move the ball more, share the ball, play a stronger defense, pressure a little bit more, and just make the extra pass.”
