Westfield used a third quarter run and capitalized on turnovers to top Fairfax 37-27, and start 3-0 on the year.
It was a low-scoring, defensive affair early on with the halftime score only tallying to 16-10 Westfield. Then the Bulldogs sharpened their offense and began to hit shots to outscore Fairfax in the third by ten, and never looked back.
Both teams have an abundance of underclassmen, but in the end it was taking care of the ball and good shooting that carried Westfield to the win.
“The energy level definitely changed for our girls in the third quarter.” said Bulldogs coach Noel Klippenstein. “When they start to play a little up-tempo, they come together really nicely.”
The Bulldogs were led by the Reed sisters: Brooke, a junior, and Gabby, a senior. Brooke was in double digits with 11 to lead her team in scoring; Gabby poured in eight points and was at the forefront of pesky defense that hassled the Fairfax guards all night.
“I think we started off a little bit rough with turnovers, but we only increased every single minute after and got back at it with defense.” Gabby said. “Normally that hypes us up every game and it definitely increased our momentum and helped us a lot.”
Along with Brooke inside, freshman forward Emma O’Connor came off the bench to score five, and provide solid defense.
“We have high expectations for all of them, because our slogan is to be better than average and if we can do that then we can take steps towards being as good as we can be.” Coach Klippenstein added.
Fairfax struggled breaking Westfield’s press at times. The Lions (1-1) were led in scoring by sophomore guard Elyse Autrey with eight, who got most of her points inside on drives.
Forward Riya Menon, another sophomore, added seven points. With four-year starters Sam McNaughton and Melanie George departed and only one senior this season, the Lions will have to rely on their young players to contend this year, many of whom displayed promising minutes as freshmen last season.
–Max Nagle
@MaxWritesHoops