Lexi Minicucci (2) handles the ball for Westfield. (Photo by Chris Putz)
WESTFIELD – For several years, the Whip City has been home to championship baseball, hockey, and gymnastics. On Friday night, a young coach and a band of female student-athletes put Westfield High School girls’ basketball back on the map.
Westfield secured its first league championship in more than a decade with a convincing 48-38 home win over Agawam Friday night.
The historic victory came in just head coach Ralph Loos’s second season with the Bombers (9-9 overall, 6-2 Valley Wheel).
“It’s a big deal,” Loos said of the team’s big moment. “Now, we’re not an afterthought.”
Westfield opened with a 12-9 first-quarter lead, and led by six at the half, 27-21, before blowing the game wide open in the second half.
Lexi Minicucci (9 points) and Alicia Arnold made big third-quarter 3s, and Jules Sharon made a sensational individual effort with a steal and underhanded scoop shot on a lay-up to put the Bombers up nine midway through the quarter, 36-25.
Westfield pulled away early in the fourth quarter with a 10-1 run.
Beka Santiago (11 points) fueled the run, starting it with an and-one, converting a lay-up, and knocking down a short-range jumper against two defenders. Arnold banked in a 3 with 5:22 remaining to give Westfield its largest lead, 46-28.
“Nobody was really believing in us,” said Santiago, whose own career was even in doubt when she suffered an ACL tear nearly a year ago.
Now, fully healed, the senior point guard is gaining confidence daily – and it appears to be contagious.
“Once we knew our new coach was believing in us, we began to believe in each other,” Santiago said. “Finally, people are watching us play.”
And play they have.
Westfield’s two league losses are by just a combined five points. The Bombers, when their defense is at the top of their game, are championship-type contenders.
Now, they will enter the postseason with a banner in tow.
Said Minicucci: “Making this an awesome senior year is what we wanted … ever since the preseason.”
