Westfield’s Drew Kerr, left, battles Sci-Tech’s Justin White for control of a loose ball. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – All good things must come to an end.
The Western Massachusetts Division I boys’ basketball postseason lost a familiar face as the Sci-Tech Cybercats bounced the Westfield Bombers in a must-win regular season finale for both teams, 55-47, on Thursday night.
Sci-Tech (10-10), fueled by second-chance opportunities, took control of the game with a 12-0 run midway through the third quarter to go up 37-27. Westfield (9-11), playing with a hobbled Devin Wells, posted a 7-0 run to cut the Cybercats lead to four, 45-41.
Wells, who has been hampered by a leg injury of late, hit a 2. Casey Willey followed with a 3, and D.J. Florek laid in a 2-pointer in the post.
Sci-Tech tripped up Westfield’s comeback though on the Bombers next offensive possession when Marcel Brown stole the ball near midcourt for a breakaway dunk. Still, Wells summoned up the last ounce of energy to make a 2-point basket a short time after, and followed that with two free throws to cut the lead to four, 49-45, with less than 1:30 remaining.
Sci-Tech made 5-of-7 shots from the free throw line in the final 52.5 seconds to seal the game.
“They never quit,” Westfield coach Bill Daley said of his team. “We had a good group of guys who played their butts of all year. We just had trouble making shots.”
Westfield actually led in the early minutes of the game, taking a 9-4 lead from the outset, but Sci-Tech crawled back into the contest with Wells sidelined for the final three minutes of the first quarter. Both teams entered the second quarter tied at 13-all, and it remained close throughout as neither team enjoyed more than a 3-point lead until after the half.
Wells went on to finish with 16 points. Florek had 11.
It was a challenging season for Westfield, which was dealt one unfortunate blow after another, survived the defection of sensational senior guard Justin Crosby – who transferred to St. Mary – a season-ending injury to electric point guard Isiah Headley, and a late-season injury to Wells.
That alone has to be applauded.
Hampden County Charter School 70, Westfield Voc-Tech 50
Nelson Roque had a nice effort in its final game as the team’s lone senior.
“Nelson provided great senior leadership from the first game to the last game,” Voc-Tech coach Kyle Dulude said. “He never quit on this team.”
The Tigers coach said not playing the month of the season kept his young team from gaining momentum early on.
“We’re just starting to hit our stride,” Dulude said. “I’m very optimistic for the future – absolutely.
GIRLS’ HOOPS
Gateway 31, Pathfinder 20
Brook Fairman recorded a double-double (16 points, 12 rebounds) to help Gateway (16-4) secure a league title for the fourth straight year.
‘Right now, we’re hoping to see who we draw,” Gateway coach Eli Robbins said. “We just want to get by the first round, and we’ll see how things go.”
Westfield 38, Amherst 24
Keri Paton scored a game-high 12 points as Westfield closed out its regular season with a victory.
“It was a great way for our seniors to go out,” Bombers coach Ralph Loos said. “We played really well down the stretch. We almost beat Longmeadow, we almost beat Northampton, and we should’ve beat Agawam.”
“We took a lot of steps this year,” Loos added. “All the numbers say that we should have had a better record than we did. Next year we are going to have a pretty substantial jump from where we are.”
New Leadership 58, St. Mary 23
St. Mary seniors Jeanette Peretti, Lindsay Hunter, and Hannah Sullivan each finished out their careers with a solid effort against a feisty New Leadership squad.
HOCKEY
Westfield 2, Barnstable 2
Chris Gentile and Sean Spohr each scored a second-period goal to help Westfield take an early 2-1 lead. Barnstable rallied for a third period goal, but the Bombers held on to the 2-all tie in the consolation round of a tournament on the Cape.
“Our players came though,” said Westfield coach C.B. “Moose” Mathews, whose team lost Ethan Nassar, Neil Parrow, and Brandon Miemiec to injury. “They played with a lot of heart.”
Adam Collier, who assisted on Westfield’s first goal, was named to the all-tournament team, alongside Spohr.
Chris Sullivan and Craig Lacey assisted on Gentile’s goal, while Anthony Cagliostro helped out Collier on Spohr’s score.
Nick Liberto finished with 32 saves for Westfield. The Bombers were coming off a 4-3 loss to Mansfield on Wednesday.
