By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – It’s always good to get off to a fast start in basketball, especially if you’re playing a top-ranked team.
Westfield’s boys traveled to Guerin Catholic to play the Class 3A No. 1 Golden Eagles on Thursday. The Shamrocks, ranked No. 2 in 4A, blitzed through the first quarter and carried the momentum to a 59-41 win to stay unbeaten for the season and hand Guerin Catholic its first loss of the year.
“It’s important to us always to get off to a good start, and I thought we really got off to a good start tonight and made some shots,” said Westfield coach Shane Sumpter. The Shamrocks’ defense was also strong; Sumpter said his team was able “to generate a lot of stops early on, which actually led to some easy looks for us.”
The ‘Rocks never trailed, starting the game with a layin from Caleb Wise. Bryson Cardinal made a basket to tie the game at 2-2, but Westfield skipped off on a 16-3 run that lasted until the end of the first quarter, which ended with the Shamrocks up 18-5. Wise added five more points in the quarter and Trey Buchanan also scored five; both made a 3-pointer during the period.
The Golden Eagles tried to stay close thanks to 3-point shooting early in the second period. Dylan Murans made a pair of triples and Robert Sorensen hit one. Carsen Melvin helped Westfield to stay comfortably ahead with five points, including a putback while being fouled. He then made the free throw to complete the traditional three-point play.
Guerin Catholic was within 23-14 midway through the quarter before Westfield went on a 7-0 spurt. Buchanan made a putback, Will Harvey drained a 3 and Nic Book scored on a layin. The Shamrocks led 32-20 at halftime and kept their lead between 10 and 20 points for the entire second half. The Golden Eagles came out with some energy in the third quarter, but Westfield was able to make the baskets it needed to stay comfortably ahead.
“We told our guys, that’s a good team, they’re going to make runs,” said Sumpter. “But we were able to, again, generate some stops and just hold that lead and grind it out.”
Book scored seven points in the third period, including a 3. Buchanan hit a 3 during that period as well. He led Westfield with 18 points, while Book scored 15.
Cardinal scored 17 points for the Golden Eagles, with Murans adding 13 points.
“It’s pretty difficult when all five of their guys were outplaying all five of our guys on the court,” said GC coach Bobby Allen. “They’re a very good team. We knew that coming in. We simply didn’t match their intensity from the tip.”
Westfield is 4-0 and plays Saturday evening at Bethesda Christian. Guerin Catholic is 4-1 and takes on Heritage Hills Saturday afternoon at the Forum Tipoff Classic at Southport.
WESTFIELD 59, GUERIN CATHOLIC 41
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Trey Buchanan 7 2-2 18 3
Charles Farrell 0 0-0 0 4
Caleb Wise 2 0-0 5 2
Durante Morton 2 2-2 6 3
Nic Book 7 0-2 15 1
Drew Haffner 1 0-0 3 2
Will Harvey 2 0-0 5 2
Carsen Melvin 2 3-4 7 2
Rylan Rauch 0 0-0 0 0
Brock Detamore 0 0-0 0 0
Brody Sutton 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 23 7-10 59 19
Westfield 3-pointers (6) Buchanan 2, Wise, Book, Haffner, Harvey.
Guerin Catholic FG FT TP PF
Robert Sorensen 3 0-0 8 1
Andy Caron 1 0-2 2 2
Malcolm Houze 0 0-0 0 0
Dylan Murans 4 3-4 13 2
Bryson Cardinal 7 2-4 17 2
Hayden Rogers 0 0-0 0 1
Julian Menendez 0 0-2 0 1
Nik Balmuri 0 0-0 0 0
Ryne Paris 0 0-0 0 1
Ben Grissom 0 0-0 0 0
Jake Grissom 0 0-0 0 2
Jack Toles 0 1-2 1 0
Totals 15 6-14 41 12
Guerin Catholic 3-pointers (5) Sorensen 2, Murans 2, Cardinal.
Score by Quarters
Westfield 18 14 16 11 – 59
Guerin Catholic 5 15 12 9 – 41