WESTFIELD – Revenge will have to wait.
The Westfield High School boys basketball team rallied from a 15-point, third quarter deficit on the road at Agawam Wednesday night before falling in a pulse-pounding thriller, 54-51.
Westfield (3-5) nearly completed an improbable comeback, tying the game 42-42 midway through the final quarter, but Agawam (7-2) escaped to sweep the season series, 2-0. The Brownies won at the Bombers home court earlier this season by the exact same score.
“Credit to Agawam because guys that typically don’t make shots came into the game and were hitting monstrous shots which good teams should do on their home court,” Westfield boys basketball coach Nate Martins said.
The game was close for a while initially with Agawam’s Caeden Roeder and Westfield’s Anthony Sanchez exchanging 3-pointers in the first two minutes. Elijah Maldonado hit two consecutive baskets to give the Brownies a 10-5 lead midway through the first quarter, forcing a Bombers timeout.
After the timeout, Roeder dropped in a one-handed floater to give his team a 12-5 lead. With just over two minutes remaining in the quarter, Westfield’s Patrick Moore stole the ball near midcourt and raced to the basket to complete the breakaway layup, pulling his team to within 12-7. A rebound and putback from Westfield’s Ethan Borgatti made it 14-9 at the quarter’s end.
Agawam opened the second quarter on a 9-0 run with consecutive 3′s from Gavin Cruz, Maldonado, and Brody Sheehan. Even when Maldonado wasn’t hitting from the outside, he was setting up his teammates’ shots by breaking down the defense with a strong drive into the paint and a pass back out beyond the 3-point line.
Westfield finally ended the run with an interior basket from Christopher Flynn. Sheehan responded with another 3 for Agawam. The Brownies now had the Bombers doubled up, 26-13.
Westfield responded.
Mario Tinsley, Jr., hit two consecutive baskets with a couple of nice athletic moves. Sanchez cut the deficit to single digits with a 3-pointer with 1:22 remaining. The Bombers entered halftime trailing 26-18.
Agawam increased its lead to 36-18 over the first four minutes of the third quarter. Roeder hit a pair of 3-pointers. Westfield made just one basket during that four-plus minute stretch, a 2-pointer from Tinsley. The Bombers closed out the quarter though with a 6-0 run, thanks to an Evan Miller 3 and three free throws from Tinsley on a pair of trips to the line.
The fourth quarter was a thing of beauty.
Sheehan opened the fourth quarter with a 3, giving Agawam a 39-27 advantage. Westfield battled back with a 12-0 run. Tinsley hit three straight buckets with superior, silky-smooth drives to the basket. His third drive resulted in an and-one. Moore followed with a 2-point shot in the low post and Borgatti hit a 3 to tie the game at 39-all with 5:14 showing on the clock.
Back and forth they went.
Roeder hit a 3 for Agawam. Flynn hit one for Westfield. Sheehan made one for the Brownies. The Bombers turned the ball over on their next possession and paid for it as Maldonado hit an and-one to make it a two-possession game.
Tinsley kept his team within striking distance though, hitting a 2, and after a defensive stop, earned a trip to the free throw line where he made both shots to help Westfield pull within two, 48-46, with 1:34 remaining.
Matthew Letellier extended Agawam’s lead to four, 50-46, with a strong post move. Westfield chipped away again as Moore converted an and-one to make it 50-49 with 1:04 left.
Cruz hit a dagger for Agawam though with 40 seconds remaining, knocking down a 3 from the corner. Sanchez made it a one possession game again for Westfield with a steal and layup with 11.6 seconds left.
Tinsley nearly stole the ball on Agawam’s ensuing inbounds play on a full court pass, but Agawam managed to secure the ball and retain possession. The Bombers were forced to foul and with 2.3 seconds left, Dylan Jorgenson made the second of two free throws to give the Brownies a 3-point lead, 54-51.
Westfield called a timeout and attempted to set up a game-tying shot, but Agawam broke up the play and time expired.
“We settled into offensive sets, and we played better defense,” coach Martins said in describing his team’s second half surge. “We have grit, but we have to execute it in the first two quarters. The first two quarters hammered us, and we couldn’t sustain it. Even though we played well energy-wise, we didn’t sustain [it].”
Westfield will look to carry over some of its second-half momentum into its next contest when the Bombers travel to Chicopee Comprehensive High School to take on the Colts Friday at 7 p.m.
