Shamrocks show off at Pink Out night, win eighth straight

By RICHIE HALL

WESTFIELD – Westfield’s defense put on a show Friday night, as the Shamrocks’ boys basketball team ran away with their eighth consecutive win.

Westfield, the No. 4 team in Class 4A, beat Brownsburg 57-31 in the second part of a Hoosier Crossroads Conference girls-boys doubleheader at CSI Gymnasium. It was also the Shamrocks’ Pink Out night for breast cancer awareness, with both the girls and boys wearing pink to honor survivors of breast cancer.

After a close first few minutes, the ‘Rocks began to pull away towards the end of the first quarter, then used a strong defensive second period to take further control of the game. It was also the first time Westfield had beaten Brownsburg in nearly a decade.

Haffner

“It’s been a while since we’ve beat them,” said Westfield coach Shane Sumpter. The last time the Shamrocks got the better of the Bulldogs was on Jan. 22, 2016.

“I knew we had to do a good job of keeping them out of transition, keeping them out of the lane, not letting them get a lot of offensive rebounds,” said Sumpter.

Brownsburg held a couple of leads during the first quarter, at 4-2 and 6-4. But Westfield finished the quarter strong, with a 10-4 spurt to lead 16-10 by the period’s end. Three different Shamrocks players (Drew Haffner, Will Harvey and Jalen Malone) all scored four points.

Haffner kept the run going to start the second quarter, nailing a pair of 3-pointers to push Westfield ahead 22-10. The Shamrocks’ defense held the Bulldogs to four points in the second quarter, enabling Westfield to lead 27-14 at halftime. Harvey finished the half with a triple.

“I thought we were pretty good tonight, guarding the ball screens,” said Sumpter. “Guys just played extremely hard. Every conference game is a grind. I always say the score is not indicative of how the game went.”

Malone opened the second half with a 3-pointer, the first of 18 third-quarter points for the ‘Rocks. A quick 10-0 run midway through the period gave Westfield a 41-18 lead, with Haffner and Brock Detamore also draining 3s.

The Shamrocks led 45-23 going into the fourth quarter, and Haffner made another triple to start that quarter. He finished the game with four 3s and 18 points. Malone scored nine points for Westfield, with Harvey and Durante Morton each scoring seven.

The ‘Rocks are now 11-1 for the season and improved to 3-1 in conference play. Westfield hosts Muncie Central this afternoon; the junior varsity game tips at 4 p.m., with the varsity contest starting at 5:30 p.m.