By Owen Ziegler
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
On Tuesday December 30th, The Westwood girls basketball team matched up with a strong, and undefeated division one Needham Rockets squad, ending 52-36 in the Rockets' favor. Despite such a large scoring margin, the matchup didn't come without positives and easily fixable mistakes.
One bright aspect of the game was the emergence and development of the Wolverines high scoring duo, Lizzie Weeman, who finished with 14 points and Julie Hogan, who had her own 11. Both Weeman and Hogan played under the leadership of last year's three senior captains, and we saw glimpses, but there was never enough playing time for them to show their skill. However, this season they’ve comfortably and quickly stepped into their roles as leaders on the court especially in the absence of senior captain Olivia Shea. Shea’s absence with an injury has been extremely clear, as the Wolverines are clearly lacking an established taller player, able to stop the opponents physical dominance.
The first half ended 26-17 with the Rockets leading, by no means was Westwood out of the game, especially with the Wolverines heavy scoring. But through the third quarter something clicked in Needham’s mind because they outscored Westwood 26-5. Needham’s 30 point lead is a testament to the extremely hard work that must go into a successful season for Westwood
In the 4th quarter, the Wolverines actually shut-out the Needham Rockets, the 4th quarter score being 14-0, granted it was against the Needham reserves, but still a hint at what could be to come for Westwood’s defense in the remainder of the season. The score ended 52-36, the Rockets winning the game, despite the effort of Hogan and Weeman.
Coming from Westwood’s previous season in which they had 7 seniors on their roster, a slight dip in their early season could have been expected, as new players had to learn new plays from new coaches, a new environment and a completely different roster means that this young teams success will take time, but it is extremely promising,
