NORTHAMPTON – The Westfield High School girls’ basketball team was feeling a bit blue in its opener Friday night, a lot of it actually.
Susan Bell and Maggie Mahoney scored nine points apiece to lead the Northampton Blue Devils past the Westfield Bombers, 45-25. Alyssa Clark was the Whip City’s leading scorer with seven.
The Blue Devils owned the night from the outset, scoring the game’s first eight points. Westfield broke its offensive drought with Amy Wardner’s two-pointer with 2:14 remaining in the first quarter.
Westfield (0-1) made 7-of-14 free throws to stay in contention in the first half, before Northampton pulled away.
Turners Falls 55, Southwick-Tolland 35
Sophomore Morgan Harriman scored a team-high 13 points, and senior Megan Jensen pumped in a career-high nine for Southwick on opening night.
“They were a little bigger, a little wider, and they got a bit inside on us,” Southwick coach Mike Gill said of the opposition. “They were pulling the shots down, pushing us back, and we just took it.”
JUNIOR VARSITY
Southwick 38, Turners Falls 15
Ashlee Shea scored eight points to lead Southwick, which won its opener in grand fashion.
SWIMMING
BOYS’ RESULTS
Westfield 70, South Hadley 21
The 2011 “A” Division Champion Westfield boys are 20 strong this year and faced South Hadley’s standout swimmer Ryan Maniello (winner of the 100 & 500 Freestyle) and only three other Tiger teammates, so the outcome of the boys’ meet was never in question.
The Bombers won the remaining six individual events (Tim Kwarcinski, 200 Individual Medley; Chris Tu, 200 Freestyle; Matt Labombard, 50 Frestyle; Jim Stinehart, 100 Butterfly; Matt Jacobson, 100 Backstroke; Pat Monette, 100 Breaststroke) along with the Medley Relay and 400 Freestyle Relay teams.
The most notable individual performances were Western Mass Sectional Championship Meet qualifying times for senior co-captains Matt Labombard (50 Freestyle) and Matt Jacobson (100 Butterfly), and Tim Kwarcinski (200 Individual Medley, 100 Butterfly), Chris Tu (100 Freestyle), Roberto Morales (500 Freestyle), John Dolan (200 Individual Medley), Sam Cloutier (100 Backstroke) and Jim Stinehart (100 Butterfly).
Perhaps the most astonishing swim of the day was the 50 freestyle race by rookie Slave Ptasuk, clocking a 25.5 sec in his first swim meet ever, and missing a WMass cut off time by only a fraction of a second.
GIRLS’ RESULTS
Westfield 64, South Hadley 28
The defending Western Mass Champion Westfield girls faced stiff competition from a number of highly-ranked South Hadley girls including Sabrie Thomas and McKenzie Werenski, who each won two of the eight individual events.
In the end, the Bombers depth proved to be too much, as they won the other four individual events (Jordan Jacobson, 200 Freestyle; Hope Walsh, 50 Freestyle; Lauren Longley, 100 Freestyle; and Erin Lewis, 100 Breaststroke) and all three relays.
Standout individual performances included State Championship Meet qualifying times for senior co-captains Jordan Jacobson (200 Freestyle), Genna Senecal (200 Individual Medley, 100 Butterfly), Hannah Plourde (200 Individual Medley, 500 Freestyle), and Lauren Longley (200 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle ), Erin Lewis (100 Breaststroke), Kelsey Johnstone (100 Backstroke), Kate McCabe (100 Backstroke), and Ali Johnstone (100 Breaststroke), as well as Western Mass Sectional Championship Meet qualifying times for Erin Lewis (50 Freestyle), Hope Walsh (50 Freestyle), Shaylyn Jurzcyk (100 Butterfly) and Kelsey Johnstone (100 Freestyle). – Westfield High School assistant coach Michael Rowbotham contributed to this report
