By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – The Westfield boys basketball team started the new year with a big finish.
The Class 4A No. 2 Shamrocks trailed Mount Vernon after three quarters Tuesday at CSI Gymnasium, but blasted through the fourth period to win 41-30. Westfield only allowed the Marauders two points in that final quarter.
“We have great defenders,” said Shamrocks junior Durante Morton. “Charles Farrell, we put him on the best guy every day. He just shows up. We guard at Westfield. That’s what we pride ourselves in every day.”
The game was tied at 6-6 at the end of the first quarter, with Morton scoring four of Westfield’s points. Mount Vernon steadily built a lead in the second period, going up 19-12 at halftime.
“Tough game,” said Shamrocks coach Shane Sumpter. “It’s one of the few that we’ve been in a situation like that.”
The ‘Rocks needed a good start in the second half, and they did just that with a 9-0 run. Nic Book got Westfield’s first basket, then Caleb Wise hit a 3-pointer. Trey Buchanan tied the game with a layin, then Charles Farrell put the Shamrocks in front with a dunk.
The Marauders answered that with a 9-2 run to go up 28-23 with 37.7 seconds left in the third quarter. Carson Melvin got the final points of the period with a layin, and Westfield was within three going into the fourth.
Melvin’s basket turned out to be the start of a 16-0 run. He scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, then Book made a dunk to put the ‘Rocks in front for good. A Farrell basket and two more scores from Book pushed Westfield ahead 35-28.
Charles Farrell scored six points for the Shamrocks. (Richie Hall)
“The difference in the game was the first three minutes of the third quarter and the first two or three minutes of that fourth quarter. We were able to get a run,” said Sumpter. “Once we got that five to six, seven point lead, we were in control.”
With under two minutes left, Morton grabbed a loose ball while airborne and going out of bounds. He called timeout before he landed, thus keeping the ball in Westfield’s hands.
“I knew we had timeouts,” said Morton. “We were in the huddle talking about a timeout. I think we had two or three, one full, two 30s. Just call a quick timeout, get our guys together, get a really good shot with two minutes left in the game.”
Book made his second dunk of the game and then hit two free throws to put the game out of reach. The Marauders scored with under 30 seconds left to avoid being shut out in the quarter, but Morton finished the game with two more free throws.
Book scored 14 points, 10 of those in the fourth quarter.
Westfield is still unbeaten at 7-0 and plays at Yorktown on Friday.
WESTFIELD 41, MOUNT VERNON 30
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Trey Buchanan 1 0-0 2 1
Charles Farrell 3 0-0 6 2
Caleb Wise 3 0-0 7 0
Durante Morton 3 2-2 8 3
Nic Book 6 2-2 14 3
Will Harvey 0 0-0 0 2
Drew Haffner 0 0-0 0 0
Carson Melvin 2 0-0 4 0
Totals 18 4-4 41 11
Score by Quarters
Mount Vernon 6 13 9 2 – 41
Westfield 6 6 13 16 – 30
Westfield 3-pointer: Wise.