‘Rocks beat Golden Eagles
By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – A new boys basketball rivalry is getting started in Hamilton County.
Guerin Catholic traveled to Westfield’s CSI Gymnasium last Saturday, and the game drew a large crowd. It was a close contest for the first half before the Shamrocks pulled away in the third quarter and eventually won 59-43.
The two schools are only a few miles apart, yet they have only played each other once. That was back on Dec. 28, 2006, as part of the Hamilton County Tournament and when GC was still a relatively new school.
“They’re right here in our backyard,” said Westfield coach Shane Sumpter. “Good team, good program.”
The first half of the game was truly back and forth, with six lead changes in the opening quarter alone. Alex Romack started the game with a free throw, then Charles Farrell hit a 3-pointer to give Westfield a 4-0 lead. The Golden Eagles answered, with Dylan Murans draining a 3 and Robert Sorensen putting Guerin Catholic in front with a layin.
Another Sorensen basket gave the Golden Eagles a 9-8 lead to finish the quarter. Romack started the second period with a layin, after which Jack Cherry made a three-point play. Westfield had its long game working early, with Will Harvey and Trey Buchanan both making triples to give the Shamrocks a 16-14 lead.
Murans tied the game with a basket, but Westfield skipped off on a 6-0 run to lead 22-16. Seth LaRavia hit two free throws, Farrell made a layin, and Romack finished the stretch with a dunk. Kamea Chandler made a basket to stop the run, but Buchanan’s 3 gave the Shamrocks their biggest lead so far at 25-18.
The Golden Eagles came roaring back, finishing the first half with an 8-0 run to take a 26-25 lead. Cherry and Sorensen both nailed 3s, then Chandler scored off a steal.
Sumpter said “both teams did a really good job” defensively in the first half.
Guerin Catholic kept the momentum going to start the third quarter, with baskets from Murans and Josh Holba putting GC up 30-25. Farrell then scored Westfield’s first basket of the second half, which Sorensen answered to give the Golden Eagles a 32-27 lead.
But the Shamrocks took over after that. Westfield allowed Guerin Catholic only three more points in the quarter, while scoring 16 of its own for a 43-35 lead. Buchanan hit two more 3s, while Romack converted two and-ones; his first gave the ‘Rocks the lead for good at 33-32. Armani Middlebrooks added a basket as well.
“I thought once we got the lead, we were able to control the clock a little bit. We had some really big offensive rebounds, some really big and-ones,” said Sumpter.
“We had a five-point lead there in the third, and then they made a couple hustle plays that we couldn’t recover from,” said Guerin Catholic coach Bobby Allen.
Westfield continued its run for the majority of the fourth quarter, eventually taking a 57-40 lead with under a minute left; the Shamrocks made a 30-8 run over the course of the second half. LaRavia opened the quarter with a putback, then Farrell made two layins as part of eight unanswered points.
“Alex Romack has been sick all week,” said Sumpter. “He came to school one day.” And still, Romack led the Westfield scoring with 17 points. Sumpter said Romack “did a great job battling” after being sick all week.
Buchanan finished with 16 points, including four 3-pointers. He also collected five rebounds and dished out five assists.
“Trey Buchanan made some big shots,” said Sumpter.
Farrell added 13 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots. Romack had six rebounds.
Sorensen scored 14 points to lead the Golden Eagles, also handing out four assists. Cherry had four rebounds.
“We’re still working through finding the right combinations, guys are getting more experienced out there,” said Allen. “But I can’t fault our effort. Our effort was there tonight. We just got to be smarter with individual possessions as the game is going on, especially in crucial times.”
Westfield is 3-1 and hosts two more games this week, taking on Noblesville Friday in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game, and Bethesda Christian on Saturday. The Golden Eagles are 2-3 and host Pendleton Heights on Tuesday before traveling to Heritage Christian on Friday to begin Circle City Conference play.
WESTFIELD 59, GUERIN CATHOLIC 43
Guerin Catholic FG FT TP PF
Jack Cherry 2-5 1-1 6 1
Robert Sorensen 6-11 0-1 14 0
Josh Holba 2-3 0-0 4 3
Lucas Parker 0-4 0-0 0 0
Dylan Murans 3-9 0-0 7 3
Kamea Chandler 4-9 0-1 9 1
Ryan Zimmerman 0-0 0-2 0 2
Ty Sanders 0-0 0-0 0 1
Julian Melendez 0-0 0-0 0 0
Kyle Shadoan 1-1 0-0 3 2
Malcolm Houze 0-0 0-0 0 0
Andy Caron 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 18-42 1-5 43 13
Guerin Catholic 3-point shooting (6-16) Sorensen 2-3, Murans 1-4 Cherry 1-2, Chandler 1-2, Shadoan 1-1, Parker 0-4.
Guerin Catholic rebounds (15) Cherry 4, Chandler 2, Holba 2, Parker 2, Sanders 2, Murans 2, Houze 1.
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Trey Buchanan 6-10 4-8 16 2
Sam Bishop 0-2 0-0 0 2
Charles Farrell 6-10 0-2 13 0
Alex Romack 7-9 3-6 17 3
Armani Middlebrooks 1-2 0-1 2 0
Max McComb 0-0 0-0 0 1
Seth LaRavia 2-2 4-4 8 0
Will Harvey 1-1 0-0 3 1
Totals 23-36 11-21 59 9
Westfield 3-point shooting (6-13) Buchanan 4-8, Farrell 1-3, Harvey 1-1, Bishop 0-1.
Westfield rebounds (25) Romack 6, Buchanan 5, Farrell 5, LaRavia 3, Middlebrooks 3, Bishop 1, team 2.
Score by Quarters
Guerin Catholic 9 17 9 8 – 43
Westfield 8 17 18 16 – 59