SOUTHWICK – It was the perfect start for the Southwick Regional High School boys basketball team.
A Westfield turnover, a Sean Braithwaite 3-pointer and a strong interior post move for two from John Whalley had Southwick up 5-0.
It proved to be fool’s gold though as Westfield went on a 15-0 run and cruised to a 58-32 win in the latest version of the border war against Southwick on Friday at James. E. Vincent Gymnasium.
“They’re in a situation we were in the other night, looking for a win, coming out throwing heck-makers,” Westfield boys basketball coach Nate Martins said. “We didn’t respond right away, but then some things started to happen for us on the defensive end with some energy and finding some open guys.”
“Ethan got a couple shots going for us, and Evan,” Martins said, “and that kind of opened it up for us to be a little more aggressive defensively.”
Westfield’s Ethan Bargatti led all scorers with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. He scored seven of those points in the first quarter during the 15-0 run, including one shot from beyond the arc.
“We’ve had a struggle all year, waking up, starting the game early,” Bargatti said. “We just had a slow start, but we got right into it once we started passing the ball, communicating.”
Ceasar Quinto got things going for Westfield (2-4), converting an and-one with a strong move to the basket in transition for the team’s first points of the game.
Evan Miller also helped fuel Westfield’s big first quarter, hitting a nice fadeaway jump shot for two. He closed out the quarter for the Bombers with a 3-pointer.
Miller said he was determined to help keep his team churning out the points.
“Just our energy, we never gave up,” Miller said. “We kept moving forward. We didn’t care how much we were up by; we just kept going.”
After scoring the game’s first five points, Southwick (0-5) went scoreless for 4:32. Whalley (10 points) broke the scoring drought, hitting a 3-pointer with 59 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. Dan Methe cut the Rams’ deficit to eight, 18-10, heading into the second quarter.
Westfield quickly doubled its lead in the opening minutes of the second quarter. Bargatti opened the quarter with a corner three, followed by one of two free throws from Garrett Berube (11 points) and back-to-back low post buckets from Berube and Adrian Bradley. The Bombers led 26-10.
Southwick’s only made field goal of the quarter came with 4:15 remaining in the half – a short jumper from Whalley. Whalley also made one of two from the charity stripe with 2:18 left, but Miller hit his second three with four ticks left on the clock to give Westfield a 31-13 advantage at the half.
Westfield increased its lead early in the second half. The Bombers opened the third quarter with five points from Patryk Lech (10 points) to go up 36-13. Lech made a long range two and converted three of four from the free throw line. He also drained a 3-pointer to make it 42-15.
Brady Wilder gave Southwick a glimmer of hope in the waning seconds of the third quarter with a 3-pointer. Evan Braithwaite and Landon Macken also made threes in the fourth quarter, but the hill was too tough for the Rams to climb.
It was Westfield’s second straight win following an 0-4 start to begin the season.
“We’re hungry,” Bargatti said. “This is a whole new half of the season. We’re hungry; we want these wins.”
Westfield will look to extend its winning streak to three games when the Bombers travel to East Longmeadow to take on the Spartans on Tues., Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. Southwick hosts Mount Greylock, beginning at 6 p.m.
“We need to build this momentum as we continue on this path, especially with the next couple games that we have,” coach Martins said. “We just need to focus on the little things that matter on the defensive end that help us cause turnovers so we can get some easy baskets. … It’s more important to show up and keep with the habits for each guy to maintain because those habits will carry over in games … and compete every night.”
