Westfield’s Alicia Arnold, foreground, collects the rebound during last night’s game against visiting Holyoke. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – The Westfield High School girls’ basketball team ran into a buzzsaw Monday night.
Holyoke converted eight 3-pointers and produced four scorers in double-digits in a 69-50 thrashing of Westfield. Kelly Reardon (20 points), Carly Castello (12), Alli Meadows (11), and Callie Cavanaugh (10) each reached that mark for the Purple Knights.
“If you give up 69 points, you’re going to lose to anybody,” Westfield coach Ralph Loos said. “We have communication issues on defense … we’re not rotating to the ball … and we’re turning the ball over by hero passes.”
Fueled by consecutive 3-point shots from Meadows, Holyoke surged ahead late in the second quarter with an 8-1 run to take a 28-23 lead.
Westfield managed to hang around for much of the second half until Reardon drained two 3s, sandwiched around another trey from Meadows.
“It seems like we’re close, but we don’t have the ability right now to get over the hump,” said Loos, whose team is mired in a four-game losing streak.
Westfield played without guard Lexi Minicucci Monday, and lost Beka Santiago late in regulation to injury. The extent of the injury was not known.
Both teams exchanged the lead several teams through the game’s first 12 minutes.
Westfield’s Alicia Arnold, who notched nine points in her previous outing, nailed two 3s for the team’s first six points. Arnold made another with 6:18 remaining to pull the Bombers within one point of a tie, 20-19.
Westfield took its final lead of the game about two minutes later on a 2-point shot from Keri Paton.
Paton finished with 11 points. Arnold had a team-high 15.
“We had our opportunities,” Loos said. “I believe that when we run our stuff, we are pretty efficient.”
The Bombers will attempt to improve their efficiency rating Tuesday night when they take on the Minnechaug Falcons in a home game at 7 p.m.
