Westfield won a defensive battle at Hamilton Heights Saturday afternoon, by the score of 27-20.
The Huskies led for most of the game, going up 7-2 after the first quarter and 11-6 at halftime. Heights was still up 17-11 after three quarters, but the Shamrocks took over after that, dominating the fourth quarter.
Westfield got it done from the free throw line, making 12 of 16 foul shots in the fourth period. Jade Shipley went 7-of-8, while freshman Olivia Robey was 2-for-2. Shipley and Ava Henson were tied for the Shamrocks’ leading scorer with nine points each.
Alyssa Crockett pulled six rebounds, and also blocked two shots. Henson had three blocks.
“We tried to make some adjustments at halftime where we could flash up in the high post, hit that high post, maybe hit a diagonal, do some different things,” said Westfield coach Ginny Smith. “More than anything else, just try to get people moving.”
“The kids were incredible,” said Smith. “They never let down, they never gave up. We never thought we were not going to win that game. We were just playing from behind the whole time. I thought it was a great team effort.”
Lauryn Wiley led Heights with eight points, including two 3-pointers. Bayleigh Runner led the rebounding with seven, while Wiley collected six rebounds.
“We’re not about moral victories, but a lot of credit to Westfield and their girls, their coaching staff,” said Huskies coach Keegan Cherry. “There in the second half, particularly late, they got into us. That pressure bothered us, we turned the basketball over, I think seven, eight times there. When your margin of error is slim, you can’t have those stretches.”
The Shamrocks are 14-4 and will play at Greenwood on Tuesday. The Huskies are 7-9 and also on the road Tuesday, playing at Western in a Hoosier Conference game.
Westfield 27, Hamilton Heights 20
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Jade Shipley 1-5 7-8 9 4
Ava Henson 4-5 1-2 9 2
Ashtin DeCraene 0-5 0-0 0 2
Zoe Pentecost 0-0 0-2 0 1
Alyssa Crockett 0-5 3-4 3 2
Olivia Robey 1-1 2-2 4 1
Gigi Eldredge 1-2 0-0 2 1
Jessica Castor 0-1 0-0 0 0
Regan Dimond 0-1 0-0 0 0
Totals 7-25 13-18 27 13
Westfield 3-point shooting (0-10) Crocket 0-3, DeCraene 0-3, Shipley 0-2, Dimond 0-1, Castor 0-1.
Westfield rebounds (21) Crockett 6, Henson 4, Eldredge 3, Shipley 2, DeCraene 2, Robey 1, team 3.
Heights FG FT TP PF
Jillian Osswald 2-4 2-2 7 1
Bayleigh Runner 1-9 0-0 3 4
Payton Dissett 0-4 0-0 0 3
Lauryn Wiley 3-8 0-0 8 2
Abby Christiansen 0-2 0-1 0 1
Mykayla Moran 1-1 0-5 2 2
Hailey Champion 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 7-28 2-8 20 14
Heights 3-point shooting (4-11) Wiley 2-2, Runner 1-5, Osswald 1-2, Dissett 0-2.
Heights rebounds (22) Runner 7, Wiley 6, Osswald 4, Dissett 2, team 3.
Score by Quarters
Westfield 2 4 5 16 – 27
Heights 7 4 6 3 – 20
ABOVE: Hamilton Heights’ Lauryn Wiley hit two 3-pointers for the Huskies during their Saturday game with Westfield.
BELOW: Jade Shipley’s free-throw shooting helped the Shamrocks make a fourth-quarter comeback. (Richie Hall)
