It was a tale of two halves in an early non-district matchup between the Westfield Bulldogs and the West Springfield Spartans. After being down at the half 19-8, the Spartans got offense flowing in the second half and hit free throws down the stretch to win, 44-42.
With two major offensive contributors out in McKenzie Matheny and Rachel Dexter, the Spartans had trouble scoring and seemed flustered at times by the Bulldogs’ tight defense. Westfield had won all three of its games, two of which quite comfortably coming into yesterday’s contest, and looked ready to do the same early on as West Springfield managed only a couple of field goals in the entire first half.
Meanwhile, three different players for Westfield hit beyond the arc to stretch the Bulldogs’ lead in the second, after they also had trouble on offense in the first quarter. Senior forward Brooke Reed went to work in the post and showed off the ability to get to the line as well as anybody on the floor. She notched a double-double to lead the Bulldogs with 16 points and 10 boards, while Bella Bruce added nine points, three boards, and three blocks.
West Springfield (2-1) opened up the second half on a 10-4 run, but did not take the lead until late in the fourth. Navigating a zone defense, the Spartans moved the ball inside and out to find shot opportunities around the basket, and notched several buckets off Bulldog mistakes and steals from their own press.
Spartan Coach Bill Gibson, who surpassed 800 wins late last season, said that being a young team means it takes the offense a while to begin flowing.
“We start off tentatively every game, it’s been like that so hopefully we work through it.” he said.
Once they got it going, the Spartans looked like an entirely different team, and outscored Westfield (3-1) in the second half, 36-23.
The Spartans took their first lead on a layup by senior Elizabeth Chasteen late in the fourth, but the Bulldogs managed to tie it up again on an offensive putback by Gina Evver with less than a minute to play. Then, a blocking foul and the penalty situation put freshman Kalina Rapoza Chasteen on the line for a one-and-one with five seconds left, and she hit both to secure the win.
Freshman Kalina Rapoza finished with 12 points, five rebounds, and did not play like a freshman.
“She has a lot of confidence,” said Gibson. “She handles things well. We’re really pleased with her, she stepped up as we had two main pieces out, so it says a lot about her and the other players and youngsters who are picking up the slack.”
It is not yet known how long West Springfield will have to fare without McKenzie Matheny as it moves forward. The Spartans face the Lewis Lancers on Monday, and Westfield will look to bounce back against Robinson on Tuesday.
–Max Nagle
@MaxWritesHoops