Penalties Hurt Westwood Momentum Against D-S

The Westwood boys’ varsity basketball team could not put a damper on Dover-Sherborn’s Senior Night Tuesday. The Raiders showed Westwood why they will be in postseason play, utilizing their resolve and ability to come from behind, with D-S winning 56-46. 

But the Wolverines (5-12) didn’t give up without a fight, and Westwood's defense was quick to the ball, not allowing D-S (11-8) to penetrate.

In the third quarter, the Raiders began to chip away at the Wolverines lead. They came out and scored five quick points to start the second half.

In the end, it was penalties that killed Westwood's momentum and let the Raiders back in the game. Westwood had 13 fouls in the second half and were over the foul limit for the majority of the fourth quarter.

“We talk about not fouling guys 97-feet away,” said Westwood head coach Steven St. Martin. “That will doom you.”

Junior Steve Jarva led the Wolverines with 10 points and junior Erik Maloney chipped-in nine.

“We missed a couple of screens, we missed guys flashing to the middle, we didn’t swing the ball properly, we didn’t attack properly, and when you do those things your giving possessions away and when you give possessions away against a good team, you’re not going to be successful,” said St. Martin. “I thought that we stopped playing together like we did in the first half. We stopped playing with that intensity; we stopped trusting each other and [D-S is] a good team. They’re making the tournament, they’re going to do some damage in there and when you play teams like that you have got to execute every possession flawlessly and we didn’t.”

But the win did not come easy for Dover-Sherborn, who fell victim to Westwood's full-court press, which led to turnovers and an inability to get their offense set up.

“It was great,” said D-S head coach Rick Grady. “These seniors are the first seniors that I’ve had from freshman to senior year so I’m really happy for them, I’m really happy that they’re able to have a successful senior year. Because the leadership that they’ve given us this year has been great, all five of them have been great leaders for our team and good role models for our younger guys.

“When you have some tough offensive possessions I think that press gets tougher and tougher,” added Grady. “Turning the ball over was a huge problem in the first half and just a general lack movement I think really hurt us.”

The Raiders were able to draw fouls and get to the free throw line and eventually take the lead.

“In the second half we hit ones that mattered and the ones that we really needed,” Grady said. “That allowed us to get some points back without losing any time on the clock which was helpful.”

D-S junior forward Nate Jenkins led all scorers with 18 points in the game, including hitting five 3-pointers.

Westwood hits the road against Medway on Friday night, while D-S takes on Hopkinton in the final game of the regular season.