Westfield went into the halftime locker room up 3 points. Summit was hanging around, and the Blue Devils needed to come out strong in the second half in order to pull away.
Westfield did just that, as an electrifying dunk to begin the third quarter from Shane Sheehan made the crowd roar. The passion and energy Sheehan expressed through his play made its way around the whole team, as the Blue Devils went on a 8-2 run following Sheehan’s heroics.
This surgical run put Westfield up 38–31 with the third quarter nearly over. The Blue Devils were moving the ball around beautifully and had positioned Tyshawn Pearson at the elbow to open up the offense.
“We like to put a guard on the elbow who’s a good passer so we don’t have to rely on bringing the big guy too high,” said head coach James McKeon. “We want to attack the middle of the zone so if we throw our best passer there good things can happen.”
This offensive strategy worked well for the Blue Devils, as Sheehan being able to play down low helped him on his way to a double-double, with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
“I came into the game looking to play very aggressively as games continue to become more and more important as we get closer to playoffs,” said Sheehan. “We did a great job of keeping high energy and not letting Summit gain momentum.”
TJ Halloran displayed his phenomenal ball-handling skills in the fourth quarter as he dismantled any form of press the Hilltoppers threw at him. “We invite the pressure,” said McKeon. “If you stay controlled and invite that pressure you can find that open guy. We have been successful with finding the middle, looking opposite and getting easy buckets.”
Late in the fourth, Theo Sica exhibited his clutch factor with 4 straight points to put the Blue Devils up 51–43 with a minute left.
“We knew they were getting desperate and we were able to find holes in their defense which led us to putting the game out of reach,” Sica said.
Westfield has now won eight of its last ten games. “We’ve been progressing and know we can play better and that’s the beauty of sports; you’re never gonna be perfect, so we’ll go back to the drawing board on Monday and get ready for the rest of the season,” McKeon said.
