Just when things for Elizabeth could not get worse, they did. The buzzer to commence the second quarter sounded. The referee blew the whistle to indicate play; however, a few seconds later, the game came to a stoppage. The reason for this: Elizabeth sent six players out to the floor, instead of five, resulting in two free throws awarded to Westfield.
Prior to this moment, the Blue Devils led 26–2. Two successful Paige Gorczyca free throws increased the substantial lead.
No. 2 seeded Westfield (18-5, 10-2 UCC Watchung) won its fifth consecutive game in dominating fashion over No. 6 seeded Elizabeth (22-2, 14-1 UCC Watchung) and clinched a spot in the Union County Tournament finals for the fourth year in a row. The Blue Devils were powered by an impressive performance from Gorczyca, who led all scorers with a career-high 29 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
Gorczyca’s stat-stuffing performance began in the first quarter as she piled on 12 of Westfield’s 26 first quarter points.
“I was just moving off screens really well to get open threes and taking it to the basket and getting second chances off rebounds,” Gorczyca said.
Immediately after Elizabeth’s first three possessions of the game, it was evident where the direction of the game was headed. The Minutemen corralled the jump ball and instantly turned the ball over leading to a Gorczyca layup. The ensuing possession, an Elizabeth turnover resulted in a 3-point field goal from Sara Rooney. The following possession, an Elizabeth turnover in which Gorczyca converted on another layup on the other end of the floor.
Having every right to be frustrated, the Elizabeth head coach signaled for a timeout.
If there was a bright side to look at from an Elizabeth’s fan perspective, it was that they embarked on a 10–0 run in the second quarter and 7–0 run in the third quarter. Boosted by its jovial fanbase, Elizabeth was able to make a few minor dents into Westfield’s commanding lead.
The cacophonous sections of the Elizabeth fanbase couldn’t faze Westfield. In order to prepare for the crowd noise of this game, the Blue Devils received some assistance.
“Coach [Jim] McKeon and I are creating a culture, and the boys [basketball] team came in at the end of practice yesterday to scream and yell at the girls when they were at the foul line so they are ready to step up and take foul-shots in a pressure situation,” head coach Liz McKeon said.
Westfield was able to connect on 14 free throws and McKeon openly admitted that “we owe the boys basketball team and coach [Jim McKeon] a lot.”
On the other end of the floor, the Blue Devils ended the game with 12 steals, 5 of them from Sutton Factor and 3 of them from Annie Ryan.
Speaking on if the game plan was centered around pressuring Elizabeth defensively, McKeon said, “One thousand percent. We watched a lot of film. We haven’t played Elizabeth during the season. We just knew what we needed to capitalize on and this is what propels our offense is our defense.”
Ryan was Westfield’s third player who broke into double-figures in the scoring column with 11 points. She sits at 979 total career points and is only 21 points away from the 1,000 point mark. Remarkably, Ryan might just achieve the feat in the county championship.
Despite Elizabeth’s strong record on paper, the Minutemen were not capable of playing on Westfield’s level in the slightest.
“We definitely came prepared and knew it was going to be a battle and because we played so well, it’s going to light a fire under our butt for our county championship revenge tour,” Gorczyca said.
This revenge tour will occur this Sunday at 2 p.m. at Kean University against first-seeded New Providence for the county championship. The two foes have controlled the landscape of Union County girls basketball for numerous years now and have collided twice this season. Each squad took home wins at the other team’s home floor.
Last year, New Providence defeated the Blue Devils in the county finals; nevertheless, last year is in the past and the Blue Devils are out to seek vengeance.
