By Owen Ziegler
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
On the night of Friday, January 10th the Westwood boys varsity basketball team faced off against the Medfield Warriors. The Wolverines came into the game with a record of 3-4 while the favored Warriors started 5-2. A tough battle loomed over Westwood, though the boys were able to secure a 63-55 victory over Medfield.
To get the game going Captain Eli Ifrah and Captain Matthew Preti shared the point guard spot. The ball in their possession often found the bottom of the net as they were efficient on offense and defense. To finish off the captain trio, Mekhi Dickerson grabbed numerous huge rebounds and, thanks to Dickerson’s second chances, junior Robert Liriano-Alejandro found the net a astounding number of times, finishing the game with 26 points showing his all-important place on the team. Medfields defense remained strong through the 1st quarter as they pulled ahead with a 18-12 lead to go into the 2nd.
The second quarter started off with 2 turnovers and a bad shot attempt for Westwood, but after a timeout they roared back with a surge of devastating offense to make the score 20-22 Medfield up with 5 minutes left. In the second quarter Liriano-Alejandro continued to play tremendously, adding 9 points to the tally. As the quarter progressed the fans saw a tense back and forth quarter highlighted by an important charge drawn by Matthew Preti which propelled Westwood into the lead 30-29.
Medfield received two fouls to start the quarter helping Westwood with some easy shots, but besides those the ball rarely found the net as with 2 minutes left in the quarter the score was only 36-37 Medfield up. In the last two minutes Westwood really turned it up, thanks to captain Eli Ifrah, who controlled the offense with precision leading to a 3rd quarter victory for Westwood 42-41.
The 4th quarter required strength and determination for Westwood to pull through as this quarter would be the toughest yet. Liriano-Alejandro didn't seemed unfazed as he scored an amazing 12 points in the quarter alone, aided by Ifrah’s 6 points, Westwood retained the lead. With the mass amount of scoring Westwood stood in front 56-51 with 2 minutes and 30 seconds left in the game and 2 huge buckets by Robert as well as some amazing defense from the likes of Preti Chase Longo, and Adrian Ortiz the game was put away. The Wolverines secured a win 63-55 finally beating Medfield after two straight losses from last season.
