The Westwood varsity team defeated rival Medfield 61-43 on Tuesday night, its first victory over the Warriors in exactly six years. Westwood moves to 4-0 on the season and takes sole possession of first place in the Tri-Valley League. Senior captain Cailin Harrington was sidelined with foul trouble in the first half but responded by scoring 18 points in the second half, tying her career-high with 21 points on the night. The Wolverines struggled a bit out of the gate, trailing 15-13 after the first quarter. Late in the second quarter, the Wolverines found themselves trailing 22-20, but were able to end the half on a 9-0 run to take a seven point lead into the locker room. Two short jumpers from senior captain Olivia Ware were bookended by a Carly Sugrue three-pointer to get things started and a Christina Bonfiglio layup as time expired off a beautiful feed from Haley Connaughton in transition. Medfield continued their pressure in the third and at one point closed the lead to just one point, going on a run led by sophomore Maggie McCarthy who scored seven points in the quarter and a team-high 13 on the night. At that point, Harrington took over, hitting back to back three-pointers to finish the third quarter and finishing an old-fashioned three-point play to start the fourth as her own 9-0 run stretched the Westwood lead to 43-33. Medfield increased their pressure to full court at times during the fourth leading to some transition baskets for the Wolverines, who exploded for 21 points in the final frame. Sugrue and Ware each finished with ten points on the night followed by Connaughton with eight. The Wolverines host the Dover-Sherborn Raiders on Tuesday, January 5th at 6:30.
The Junior Varsity team earned a hard-fought 35-28 victory over Medfield on Tuesday behind 14 points from sophomore Caroline Bean, who has led the team in scoring in 3 of their 4 games. Westwood trailed 11-9 after the first quarter, but held the Warriors to just five points in the second quarter to hold a slim 17-16 lead at halftime. The game remained close in the third and the Wolverines secured the victory in the fourth maintaining their tight defense and scoring 12 points, all by Bean and fellow sophomore Ali Fleischer. The Wolverines improve to 4-0 on the season and next play Dover-Sherborn on January 4th. The Freshman team kicked off the program sweep of Medfield on Tuesday afternoon with a 33-29 victory over the Warriors. Westwood trailed by two at halftime but were able to outscore Medfield in both the third and fourth quarters behind a balanced scoring attack and good defense and rebounding. Lauren Griffin was an offensive spark for the Wolverines in the first half, scoring 7 of her team-high 9 points. The Freshman team moves to 2-0 on the season. The Wolverines took care of business in Bellingham on Friday with Varsity and JV bringing home decisive victories over the Blackhawks.
The Varsity team was ready to go right from the opening tip-off making their first 6 shots on the night and forcing a couple early Bellingham timeouts on their way to a 20-3 lead after the first quarter. Westwood took a 31-14 lead into the locker room and continued to open up their lead in the second half, the game ending with a 68-23 final score. Westwood had 10 different players score including seven that contributed at least six points. The Wolverines were led by junior Carly Sugrue who had a career-high 15 points, including 9 in the explosive first quarter. The JV team won by a score of 58-28 on a balanced attack of good offense and strong team defense. All 11 players on the roster found their way into the scoring column led by freshmen Riley Murray and Alex Finn who contributed 16 and 10 points, respectively. Next up is rival Medfield on Tuesday 12/22. Freshman will get things started at 3:30 followed by JV at 5:00 and Varsity at 6:30. Varsity looks for its first win over Medfield since 2010. Westwood earned its first full-program sweep of the season on Tuesday night when the Freshman got things started with a win over Medfield, and JV and Varsity followed up by defeating Holliston.
Varsity moved to 2-0 after a 57-20 victory over the Panthers. The Wolverines were strong at both ends right from the opening tip, racing out to a 16-0 start and leading 26-3 after the first quarter. Westwood had nine different players score with junior Allie Morin leading the way with 12 points on the night, including nine in the opening eight minutes. The Westwood defense held Holliston to just four field goals. JV also moved to 2-0 in a game with a similar feel. Westwood led 19-6 after the first quarter and 37-11 at halftime. Ten different Wolverines got into the scoring column led by sophomore Caroline Bean, who scored 10 of the Wolverines' 19 first-quarter points. The Freshman team opened their season and was a bit slow to find their offense but eventually heated up scoring 17 points in the second quarter to take a six point lead into the locker room at halftime. The Wolverines extended their lead in the second half, and held off a late-surging Medfield to win the game by a final score of 30-26. Varsity and JV take the court next on Friday in Bellingham. Freshman will face off against Medfield again on Tuesday 12/22.
The Westwood Girls Basketball Alumni Game will be held on Sunday, December 27th at 11:00 in the WHS Gym. All alums are welcome!
Click HERE to RSVP. The 1st Annual Westwood Girls Basketball Travel Tip-Off Night will be held on Sunday, December 6th from 7:00-8:00 in the Westwood High School Cafeteria. The WHS Varsity and JV teams will host the 4th-8th grade girls travel teams for pizza and a night to celebrate Westwood Girls Basketball at all ages. Teams will be match up with their high school mentors as part of the Travel Team-Up Program.
Westwood competed in the Summer Slam this weekend at Stonehill College, reaching the Championship game before falling to Braintree. On Saturday, in Pool play, the Wolverines defeated Norwell and Lincoln-Sudbury before falling to Bishop Feehan to finish 2-1 on the day. With the second place finish in their pool, Westwood qualified for the top division of playoffs for Sunday. The Wolverines began the single-elimination bracket by defeating Norwood, and then avenged their loss to Bishop Feehan to reach the semifinals, where they defeated Winacunnet (NH) to set up the Championship match-up with Braintree. Despite the low numbers throughout the weekend and the number of games played, the Wolverines played well and showed a lot of good signs for the future.
Thanks to the Stonehill coaching staff and players for putting on a great tournament! |