Gill St. Bernard’s sailed into WHS on a frigid Saturday afternoon towing a 14-4 record, a streak of emphatic wins and the No. 13 ranking in New Jersey. The Knights limped out with their tow cable slashed, those achievements bobbing in the waters of high school basketball’s frothing ocean.
Westfield (15-5, 10-2 UCC Watchung) shoved past Gill St. Bernard’s (14-5, 8-2 Skyland Delaware), 60–50, using star performances from its star players and deploying its usual blueprint of defensive rigidity. The Blue Devils capped their regular season with three consecutive wins heading into Wednesday’s Union County Tournament first round, where No. 2 seed Westfield will face either No. 15 Hillside or No. 18 Rahway.
The final margin indicated a comfortable win, but Westfield only pulled away late. The Blue Devils led 52–50 with a minute left when the Knights sent Sara Rooney to the free-throw line for a 1-and-1.
Rooney hit both shots. Soon after, in the same situation, so did Annie Ryan. Then Paige Gorczyca. Then Ryan again. Eight foul shots in the last minute. Eight points.
“Everyone on our team should want to get the ball and should want to be fouled and have confidence in shooting the foul shots,” Ryan said, “because we just practice them so much.”
Westfield’s composure in the final minute matched what it displayed Tuesday in its overtime win against Chatham. In that game, the Blue Devils attempted 10 free throws in overtime. They made them all.
Moxie. The type of moxie present in championship-caliber teams.
Westfield put itself in position to seal Saturday’s game from the stripe after an afternoon of solid execution. The Blue Devils focused on neutralizing Gill’s two towering sophomores, Sidney Quinn and Gandy Malou-Mamel, who stand at 6-foot-1 and 6-foot-5, respectively.
“The help defense was really good on [Malou-Mamel],” Sutton Factor said, “especially in the second half, causing us to get a bunch of steals and cause her to travel, giving us points in transition.”
The Knights, in their last five wins, have averaged 72 points. They didn’t come close to that mark on Saturday.
They did, though, explode for an 11–0 run that bridged the first and second quarters. Westfield went scoreless for the first four and a half minutes of the second quarter. The drought ended when Rooney banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
She pursed her lips after that one, her expression verging on embarrassment. But on the next possession, she got another look, this time from the wing. And it didn’t touch any part of the backboard. Or any part of the rim. Just the net.
Rooney finished with 15 points, second only to Ryan’s 22. Factor scored 10 points, and Gorczyca had 11 rebounds and 7 points, including a banked-in three late in the first half.
“We bounced back and we never hung our heads,” said Liz McKeon, who on Thursday became the winningest head coach in WHS girls basketball history. “We even lost the lead and came back. Sometimes you need to bank in a couple threes to get the momentum going.”
Westfield’s momentum eventually flowed unchecked, but the game’s momentum stuttered. Questionable officiating marred much of the game, both sides frequently bamboozled by phantom calls and missed fouls. The GSB coach pantomimed bad calls, and McKeon frequently grew frustrated. At some point, the fans on both sides stopped yelling, perhaps rendered mute by the depth of their bewilderment.
“We talk about this all the time,” McKeon said. “Do not put it in their hands. So they stepped up and they didn’t.”
The win was opportune. The Blue Devils will barrel into the postseason with a head of steam. “Now we’re on a run,” Ryan said.
“There’s no easy games from here on out,” McKeon said. “Every game is a big game.”
The big games start Wednesday. Who knows when they’ll stop.
Article by Michael Liebermann
Live Tweeting by Emily Weinstein
