Union dribbled down the court, looking for a way to cut the Westfield lead to single digits and start a comeback in the last three minutes of the fourth quarter. The Union point guard passed half court, looking for an open teammate. However, junior Tyshawn Pearson was not going to give him a chance as he dished the ball to senior captain Shane Sheehan on the wing. With nobody between him and the basket, Sheehan took one dribble and leapt into the air, delivering a powerful two-hand slam. Sheehan’s dunk not only shook the backboard, but it extinguished the Farmers’ comeback hopes.
The Blue Devils soundly defeated Union 58-48 on Monday, improving to a record of 6-8. Pearson led the way with 14 points for Westfield along with three steals and five assists. After losing two straight to Linden and Summit, the Blue Devils were happy to secure this much-needed victory. “We had each other’s backs in this game and today was a great win,” said Pearson.
Going into the fourth quarter, Westfield was only leading by six points. Sheehan, who had been quiet with one point in the first three quarters, took over in the fourth. He gave the Blue Devils nine of their sixteen points in the final eight minutes of play, leading Westfield to victory.
“Throughout the game we were trying to focus on sharing the ball and at that point in the game I was trying to be a little more aggressive with my shot selection and I took more and made them,” said Sheehan regarding his fourth quarter play.
As Sheehan said, Westfield focused on controlling the ball, limiting their turnovers and preventing the opposition from scoring easy points in transition. Coming off of a turnover-filled game against Summit, both players and coaches seemed relieved to have played much cleaner. “We shared the ball better than other games without turning it over and we played a lot better defense today,” said Pearson.
Though the Blue Devils defeated Union by double-digits the game was much closer early on. Westfield jumped out to a quick 14-3 lead in the first four minutes of the first quarter but quickly began to lose it.
Poor passes into the post and unnecessary turnovers allowed Union to go on a 9-0 run of their own, making it a one possession game. At the end of the first, Union was able to get a quick steal and layup to end the quarter down two.
The game was filled with runs from both teams. Head coach James McKeon said, “That’s basketball, really. Our goal is to not let it get to a 15 or 11 [point run]… but it’s basketball; you have to stay the course of the game. They hit a couple shots in a row. Same with us. I think we had a couple more runs than them.” And he said that is why the score was what it was in the end. As for preventing other teams from going on runs, he said, “We have to do a little bit better to limit those runs more often. It didn’t get as deep as 15 today, which is good but [it’s] something we got to control a little bit better.”
The Blue Devils pulled away once more in the second quarter. 3-pointers from junior Enzo Ferrero and sophomore Max MacEacheron contributed to the strong scoring quarter. On top of that, two scores off of steals from Pearson helped bring Westfield into halftime comfortably up 32-21.
The lead was still not safe. Union came out firing, going on an 8-0 run with two deep 3-pointers. The Farmers’ shooting was the strongest part of their game, and they used it well.
“I think we have to be a little bit more assertive coming out of halftime. They came out with a lot of energy. And that’s probably their coach’s message. We didn’t match it, and then we kind of got taken aback by it,” said McKeon. “I think that’s just stuff you’ve got to learn, you know, [how] to play with a lead. I know it’s been a minute for us to do that. So that’s something that you’ve got to continue to grow on and when we’re up you’ve got to stay up.”
Union did take the lead at one point in the first half. McKeon said, “At some point they came back and took the lead… but our kids battled back. We could have quit. They didn’t quit today, and they played with a little bit more passion than we’ve seen in the last couple of games. I’m happy with it.”
The Farmers’ energy did not stutter. Another 3-pointer in the third brought their run to 11-0 and the score to 32-32. Then Westfield turned on the jets.
Starting in the third quarter and continuing right into the fourth, the Blue Devils caught fire on their own 11-0 scoring run, fueled by another 3-pointer from MacEacheron and scores from Sheehan in the paint. As Pearson stated before, Westfield moved the ball well against the Farmers. McKeon noted MacEacheron and Sheehan’s strong scoring performances: “I think those guys got those shots that they did because we moved the ball and shared the ball tonight… Our goal is to get 15 assists a game, and I think today we’re probably pushing around 12… That’s the game and that’s how we have been. When we’ve had over 12-plus assists, we’ve won all those games… I hope we can build off of this.”
Union would end this lead midway through the final quarter of play but would not return. The Blue Devils held their lead with suffocating defense and unstoppable momentum. The 58-48 win was a strong return from their last two losses against Linden and Summit.
Westfield will take on Union Catholic at 4 p.m. at WHS on Thursday. Union Catholic came out victorious in their first meeting, winning 54-43. The Blue Devils hope to flip the script at home this time.
