By Owen Ziegler
Hometown Weekly Correspondent
On the night of Tuesday, October 6, the Westwood Wolverines Unified basketball team faced off against the Westwood Police team in a huge matchup, fresh off of a resounding 84-67 season-opening win against the Dedham Marauders. The Wolverines came into this game with nothing but a win in their sights, and win they did. Westwood put up an astounding 106 points to the Police’s 44, one of the highest totals in Bader gymnasium history.
To get the night started, number 35 Eddie Piqani expertly commanded the floor when bringing the ball up. Piqani helped give Westwood the early lead at the first substitutions, 8-7. The Westwood student section was absolutely electric, and an obvious contributor to such a wide margin. But, the den was especially unkind to the opposing police officers, so the momentum of the game rode with the Wolverines all night. As the first quarter progressed, #45 Sam Rosen shined. Rosen put up multiple buckets from inside the paint, especially with the help of teammates John Power and his point guard, Elias “partyman” Anderson.
The Wolverines were able to climb to a lead of 5 points, but with around 12 minutes remaining was when they really turned up. Led by 8 straight points from Gregor Hakhinan, along with dominant buckets from Katie Siculair, assisted by Livi Mcdaniels. Westwood was able to finish out the half in front 52-23, completely locking down the Police officer’s scoring chances.
In beginning of the second half, #13 Lance Canale took control of the game. He capitalized on multiple chances, along with the help of Anthony Vernaglia, The Wolverines advanced to an even greater lead 74-31. Coached by Virginia Booth and Jackie Hwang, this Westwood offense went from a decently strong one, to an absolute machine with masterful offense and defense. Towards the later stages of the game #50 Andrew Webb-Johnson and #1 Krish Rapol celebrated Westwood to victory, 106-44. The player of the game award, rightfully so, went to Ava Meredith for her playmaking and sportsmanship abilities.
Overall, The unified basketball vs Westwood Police game was a total success, and an awesome chance to bring the community together and keep ourselves inspired.
