Bodies were sliding on the floor for every loose ball as the gym was filled with cheers and exclamations. Westfield had tied the game at 52 to demand a fourth overtime. Despite the Blue Devils’ fight throughout the game, the exhaustion eventually caught up to them as Chatham pulled ahead to win 61-54.
On Jan. 11, Westfield faced off against No. 7 ranked Chatham, at home. Going into the game, expectations were low for the Blue Devils. “This might have been one of the best teams we’ll play all year,” said senior co-captain Catie Carayannopoulos. “I couldn’t be prouder, four overtimes is a lot and we never gave up.”
Chatham has remained undefeated this season, with three college commits including one d1 commit. Westfield did not let this get in the way of their playing, and matched the Cougars energy throughout the whole game.
The Blue Devils showed a dominant performance during the first half, maintaining their lead and ending the second quarter at 24-20. Sophomore Mairin Fowler helped Westfield with 2 three-pointers, after Chatham had missed 2 threes in a row. Despite their offensive success, Westfield knew they would have to keep up the defense to shut down the number seven powerhouse. “We knew going into the game we had to step up our defense,” said Carayannopoulos. “And our defense was really good all game, and it is what led to our offense.”
Westfield allowed Chatham to build up some steam during the third quarter, with the Cougars taking a 35-33 lead. But the Blue Devils bounced back in the fourth quarter, picking up speed and aggression, and tied it up at 45 to bring the team into overtime. “We were all clearly tired,” said junior Megan Logan. “We were just trying to keep up the energy and build each other up.”
After two overtimes, Logan tied the game up at 50 to keep Westfield in it. The tensions were high as players started to get antsy. The Blue Devils had held in for four quarters and two overtimes and were showing no signs of giving up. Triple overtime was a defensive battle, with both teams only scoring once. In quadruple overtime, the game would come down to consecutive fouls on Chatham’s best player, Ella Kreuzer, allowing them to pull ahead and end the marathon matchup at 61-54.
Despite the loss, this game helps put Westfield on the map and assert them as serious contenders. “We came out and we had nothing to lose,” said head coach Liz McKeon. “Chatham is the best public school in the state, and it gives us the confidence moving forward that we can compete with anybody.” This positive outlook was unanimous throughout the whole team, as this game gave the Blue Devils the pick up they needed to bring them into the second half of their schedule. “People are going to see that Westfield is a good team,” said Logan. At 4 p.m. on Jan. 14, Westfield will face Elizabeth at home.
