The Union County Tournament – the first test for Westfield to face the raw do-or-die stakes of tournament play.
In the preliminary round of the UCT, with a score of 31-24 coming out of the third quarter, the Blue Devils held a comfortable lead over ALJ. But, in the UCT, nothing is guaranteed. After the minute of rest between quarters, ALJ worked the ball right away, looking for a possibility to score. Receiving a set of foul shots, ALJ was able to add an easy two points to the scoreboard, gaining on Westfield’s lead. Westfield quickly put some shots on the board with Darby Hubner, Megan Logan and Catherine Oliviera being key contributors to increase the score, 38-26.
But, it was counties. Even with less than five minutes remaining, nothing was guaranteed. In a blink of an eye, ALJ racked up 10 points, putting them only four behind the Blue Devils, 40-36. With two minutes left, the game became a must-watch.
Colliding energy of the two bleachers – the “Westfield” bleacher , the “Visitor” bleacher– united, as the gym bit their fingernails in anticipation for what was to come. Westfield called a timeout; they were given their game plan. According to head coach Liz McKeon, “We presented to spread the floor, pass it around, not dribble and keep the ball away because I think they had to get four fouls. We needed four fouls for us to get to the line. So that was the plan. Okay, I know it didn’t look like that. But that was the plan.”
A few dribbles, and the ball was quickly lost from Blue Devil possession. However, with a layup from Oliviera and a foul shot from Rooney, mixed with Logan’s shield of a defense, Westfield captured the victory, 43-38.
The game, however, started about as pretty as its ending quarter. There were multiple intercepted passes on both sides of the ball along with weak defensive efforts. Right before halftime, the underdogs, ALJ, tied up the game with a last second three-point shot – a shock of shame for the Blue Devils, a spark of hope for the Crusaders.
“Just a lot of turnovers,” said Rooney.
Coming out of halftime, Westfield turned it up. They got their own rebounds, they sent full-force layups, they even recorded multiple ‘stuffs’ on the Crusaders’ shots, a form Logan mastered in yesterday’s matchup. When asked about her technique, Logan responded, “I just stay on them and I keep my hands up and make sure not to bail them out and foul them.” At the end of the third, the score showed, 31-24.
And after an intense final quarter, Westfield walked off the court – heads held high – ready to soak in their close, gritty win.
The UCT is placed towards the end of the season, so at this point, teams have had the ability to work with another and discover their potential.
We asked McKeon about this, if this game lived up to Westfield’s full potential. She commented, “We’re better than we played today, but they showed a lot of guts. We kind of started to crumble in the second quarter; it was tight at halftime. We could have bagged it in and been like, ‘Oh, we feel sorry for ourselves,’ and we did not do that. So that’s what I commend them for. It doesn’t matter if it’s pretty, all it matters is who wins and we won. And that was gutsy. So did we play to our potential? No, but we played with a lot of guts and I’m extremely proud of them.”
With all the time Westfield has remaining in their season, it is going to be exciting to see where their potential can take them. Westfield will face New Providence on Friday at Rahway High School, hoping to unlock another gutsy performance.
Rooney said, “I think we just have to take today and recognize that we’ve come a long way to the game of the season. Winning our first county game we just have to keep using that to propel the momentum for the next game.”
Live tweets by Ava DeSena.
