For years the Westfield Bulldogs were considered an up-and-coming contender to win a state title. Now seniors Jemon Price, William Robinson, Isaiah Brown, Jr., Colin Stemberger, Mathias Lee, and the rest of the Bulldogs have done exactly that.
On Thursday at Siegel Center in Richmond, Westfield got 22 points from Robinson and played solid team defense to defeat Landstown 48-44 in the Class 6 State Title Game. The victory marked the school’s second state title and Westfield Coach Kevin Harris’ third.
The offense was uneven throughout the game for both teams, but Robinson proved a constant source of production for Harris’ team. The 6’7″ forward did most of his damage in the paint, but also hit a three-pointer. He contributed six rebounds and four blocks as well.
“We want to play defense and play together, and I think we played as a team to get the offense going,” said Robinson.
While Westfield (30-1) has been a diverse offensive team all year, where any starter could lead the team in scoring on a given night, clearly there was an emphasis on Robinson in the state championship.
“He [Robinson] started the game off getting buckets,” Price said. “We noticed that he was going to kill, we just had to keep feeding him.”
Brown agreed. “We knew going into the game that he was going to have a mismatch inside so we just fed him the ball,” he said.
The Bulldogs may have been focused on feeding their Robinson on offense, but they were also focused on stopping another Robinson on defense. Landstown sophomore guard Damien Robinson averaged around 21 a game this season for the Eagles, and had scored 24 in a semifinal win over South County last week. Westfield’s team defense held him to 12 points on 3-12 shooting.
“They were very physical,” said Damien Robinson of Westfield’s defense.
Westfield trailed at halftime 25-24, but upped the defensive intensity in the second half. The Bulldogs outscored the Eagles 16-8 in the third quarter to take a lead they would not relinquish. Landstown (24-5) rallied to get to 43-40 with under three minutes left in the game, but a huge bucket by sophomore guard Malachi Lee stalled the Eagles’ momentum.
While the Eagles managed to score two more points, that was all they could manage the rest of the way. Westfield held Landstown to five field goals in the second half off 27% shooting. Price hit two free throws and Stemberger one to provide the final margin of victory.
Price had nine points, with the athletic guard also contributing two blocks and two steals. Brown added eight points and point guard Stemberger five. Stemberger, like Will Robinson, also played the whole game.
“One thing we pride ourselves on is whoever’s night…if it’s Will’s night tonight, great, we support him,” Harris said. “If it’s Jemon’s night, his teammates support him. Zay [Brown] has had nights where we’re supporting him as well. That’s the great part about our team, they’re mature, they’re hungry, and they play for each other.”
After the game the Bulldogs were happy to celebrate after realizing a goal that had been in players’ and fans’ minds since Harris was hired by Westfield almost four years ago.
“We knew going in Landstown was a well-coached team…they’ve got a great young roster,” Harris said. “I think that we stepped to the challenge, as I thought we would…just proud of our group how they persevered through it.”
–Chris Jollay