By RICHIE HALL
NEW CASTLE – Of the four boys basketball teams that participated in the Raymond James Hall of Fame Classic Thursday at New Castle, Westfield was the only one not ranked in an Associated Press top 10 class poll.
The Shamrocks turned that underdog role around, however. Westfield put on a show at the annual tournament, and was the team holding the trophy at curtain call.
The ‘Rocks triumphed at the Hall of Fame Classic with two resounding wins. In the semi-finals, Westfield took down Connersville, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 3A, 51-43, then defeated 4A No. 10 Cathedral 74-63 in the championship contest. The Irish beat 4A No. 9 Homestead 62-50 in the semi-finals to advance to the final.
“We just go out there and play together, keep our composure and then play hard-nosed defense,” said Shamrocks senior Cam Haffner, who put together an incredible shooting performance in the championship game. Every one of the Westfield players contributed something to the win.
BIG SHOTS
The first quarter of the championship game was full of remarkable shot-making by both teams. Cathedral got the first basket, a 3-pointer by 6-11 Xavier Booker. Westfield then ran off the next seven points, with a Haffner 3 sandwiched between two baskets from Alex Romack.
“I think we just made good cuts, played good offense, good passes,” said Romack. “A lot of credit to Braden (Smith). Trey Dorton got me open a lot. Really appreciate both those guys.”
Both teams totaled seven triples in the first quarter. The Irish had four, including three from Booker. But Haffner would get the last word from downtown, as his 3-pointer finished the period and gave the Shamrocks a 17-14 lead.
Haffner’s 3 began a 10-0 run for Westfield. Smith made a layin and free throw, Kai Butterworth came in for a layin and Nic Depasquale made a pair of free throw. That put the ‘Rocks up 24-14, and they stayed around that margin until halftime. Tayshawn Comer nailed a buzzer-beating 3 to end the half, but Westfield still led 30-23.
Comer scored the first basket of the second half, getting the Irish within 30-25. The Shamrocks took over after that, outscoring Cathedral 25-5 in lightning-quick fashion. Haffner got hot from outside, hitting three more 3-pointers.
“When you have a guy on fire like that, give him the ball and get out of the way,” said Smith.
Depasquale also hit a 3 during that tremendous run. Smith scored seven points, including a three-point play, and Romack scored six points inside. When the dust settled, Westfield led 55-30.
“It felt really good, but you just knew there was a lot of basketball to play,” said ‘Rocks coach Shane Sumpter. “Our guys were so hyped up and I just tried to tell them that there’s a lot of basketball to be played.”
Sure enough, the Irish made an equally quick comeback that started in the final two minutes of the third quarter. Cathedral went on a 14-4 run during those last two minutes to cut the Shamrocks’ lead to 59-44 going into the fourth quarter. Comer then scored seven consecutive points to get the Irish within 59-51. Depasquale drained a 3 to interrupt the run, but Cathedral kept rolling, getting within 62-56 with four minutes left.
PLAYING THROUGH IT
“We just had to try to figure out how to survive that,” said Sumpter. But despite Cathedral’s run, Westfield didn’t change its style of play, and Sumpter resisted the urge to call a timeout when the Irish got hot.
“I wanted our guys to try to play through it a little bit,” said Sumpter.
As it turned out, six points would be as close as Cathedral would come to the lead. Romack made a free throw, then Haffner took over, scoring Westfield’s last 11 points. He started with a 3-pointer, which Comer answered with a layin. But Haffner stepped up again, nailing a second triple to put the Shamrocks ahead 69-58.
“How big were those two 3s by Cam Haffner,” said Sumpter. “Man. I thought it was more difficult for us to hold on to the basketball, totally different from this morning. I didn’t think we could do that against their pressure. So Cam Haffner, a wide-open 3? I’ll take that.”
Seconds later, Haffner made two free throws to give Westfield a 71-58 lead with 1:26 left, and the ‘Rocks were out of danger. The trophy would be theirs soon after.
“I felt like we kept our composure, we kept our attitude up and we pulled it out,” said Smith.
Haffner finished the game with 30 points, including seven 3-pointers, and seven rebounds. Depasquale and Romcak both scored 15 points, with Romack also collecting five rebounds and Depasquale making all three of his 3-point attempts.
“When you got two of the best players in the state, they make my job look so much easier,” said Depasquale. “I just facilitate, I try to do my best, pass to these guys coming off screens and stuff, and then we all just play together on defense.”
Smith reached triple-double status with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and also had nine steals. Dorton dished out five assists.
Smith was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player at the conclusion of the game, with Haffner and Depasquale both also getting selected to the All-Tournament Team.
Comer led Cathedral with 28 points.
MORNING GAME
Westfield battled it out with Connersville in the first quarter of the first semi-final game, with the Spartans leading 10-9 at the end of the period. But the Shamrocks took over in the second quarter, pouring in 22 points for a 31-19 halftime lead. Haffner scored six points; both he and Romack scored eight points in the first half.
Connersville slightly chipped in to Westfield’s lead during the second half, but the Shamrocks were able to hang on. Balance was the keyword for Westfield, as four players reached double figures. Haffner led the way with 11 points, followed by Depasquale, Romack and Trey Buchanan with 10 points each. Buchanan and Haffner each hit two 3-pointers.
Smith totaled nine rebounds, nine assists, eight points and five steals. Romack collected seven rebounds.
Westfield is 6-2 for the season and is back home Tuesday to play Mount Vernon.
WESTFIELD 51, CONNERSVILLE 43
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Braden Smith 3-11 2-2 8 2
Cam Haffner 4-7 1-2 11 1
Trey Dorton 0-1 0-0 0 1
Nic Depasquale 4-10 2-3 10 1
Alex Romack 5-6 0-2 10 0
Trey Buchanan 4-7 0-0 10 3
Kai Butterworth 1-1 0-0 2 2
Jonah Spinner 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 21-43 5-9 51 10
Score by Quarters
Westfield 9 22 10 10 – 51
Connersville 10 9 13 11 – 43
Westfield 3-point shooting (4-14) Buchanan 2-5, Haffner 2-4, Smith 0-3, Depasquale 0-2.
Westfield rebounds (22) Smith 9, Romack 7, Haffner 3, Depasquale 2, Dorton 1.
WESTFIELD 74, CATHEDRAL 63
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Braden Smith 5-11 2-3 12 2
Cam Haffner 9-17 5-7 30 2
Trey Dorton 0-1 0-0 0 2
Nic Depasquale 4-8 4-6 15 1
Alex Romack 7-8 1-2 15 4
Trey Buchanan 0-1 0-0 0 1
Kai Butterworth 1-1 0-0 2 0
Totals 26-47 12-18 74 12
Score by Quarters
Westfield 17 13 29 15 – 74
Cathedral 14 9 21 19 – 63
Westfield 3-point shooting (10-19) Haffner 7-13, Depasquale 3-3, Smith 0-2, Dorton 0-1.
Westfield rebounds (28) Smith 10, Haffner 7, Romack 5, Dorton 2, Depasquale 2, Buchanan 2.