In a scramble under the Union Catholic basket, junior Zach Epp strips away the ball and takes off towards the Westfield hoop, gaining momentum as he crosses half court. As he dashes across the three point line the Union Catholic point guard catches up to him, making a play on the ball as Epp jumps toward the basket. Laying the ball hard off of the glass, Epp was fouled and pushed to the ground as the ball fell through the basket. He stepped to the free throw line adding one more the Westfield score, but, even with his extra effort in the fourth quarter, Westfield fell to Union Catholic with a final score of 65-49.
The first quarter was a tale of defensive perseverance with both teams trading contested shots and struggling to put points up within the paint. Junior Enzo Ferrero and Epp were able to contribute with outside shots while senior captain Shane Sheehan scored on a strong dunk that was heavily defended. After the first eight minutes of play Westfield was trailing 9-10 but did not seem flustered by the Union Catholic energy.
Coming out of the first quarter break, Union Catholic set up a new offensive strategy and started moving the ball fast. Their passes penetrated the Westfield defense and within the first two minutes they were up by seven points. Westfield called a timeout and the message from head coach Jim McKeon was clear: maintain possession. “We have to take care of the basketball. We knew what we were facing, we know them well… But, we fought to the end and that’s all I can ask for,” said McKeon, looking back on the switch of momentum in the game.
While Westfield looked to sway the game’s momentum in their favor, this did not happen until the fourth quarter. Epp led the Blue Devils in scoring during the fourth quarter with a whopping 15 points, his first points since the first quarter. To what changed during the fourth quarter, Epp said, “I think it was our perspective towards the game. We came out with a little more energy. We had nothing to lose in the fourth quarter, we were just trying to kind of bring it back.” Epp ended the game with 19 points total, the highest scorer between both teams.
This game was the Blue Devils’ second matchup against the Vikings this season, with their first resulting in a loss three games into the season. That match had been the opposite of this game. It had been a close game all the way through until the fourth quarter, where the Blue Devils persistence faltered, allowing Union Catholic to pull away. This Union Catholic team looked different than last time, said McKeon. “I mean they get new guys everyday so it was a little bit of a different team than they had last time. If somebody walks through the door they automatically play for them.”
Even though this loss is a blow to the Blue Devils’ postseason hopes, the team did not relent in their attempt for a comeback. “At the end of the day that’s all I’ve ever asked them to do is compete for four quarters and the outcome is the outcome,” said McKeon.
The Blue Devils look to bounce back against Hillsborough on Saturday at 1 p.m. at home.
