Although the Blue Devils made a valiant comeback attempt in the first half, an outstanding county tournament run came to an end for Westfield.
Heading into Tuesday night's 35th annual Frank J. Cicarell girls' basketball Union County Tournament semifinal at the Lions Den at Roselle Catholic in Roselle, the Blue Devils just simply ran into and were run over by a better team.
Third-seeded Roselle, buoyed by an 8-0 start, rolled to a dominating 73-46 triumph over seventh-seeded Westfield.
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The Rams will face top-seeded Roselle Catholic in Friday night's championship game at RC at 7:30 p.m.
Roselle Catholic ousted fourth-seeded Cranford 75-50 in Tuesday night's second semifinal at RC.
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"It's definitely not easy to get back after being down by eight, but we tried our hardest and I'm proud of us," said Westfield senior forward Diana Venezia, who paced the Blue Devils with 18 points before fouling out with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
Roselle won for the sixth straight time to improve to 19-5 and reached the championship game for the first time since 2006. The Rams won their only title in 2002.
Roselle was sparked by standout senior guard Jakoya Duggans, who poured in a game-high 26 points. The Rams are 6-0 with the 1,000 points-plus scorer back in the lineup. In their previous four games without Duggans when she was sidelined with a knee injury, Roselle was 1-3 and had lost three straight.
The Blue Devils, who will now turn their attention to next week's North 2, Group 4 playoffs, fell to 13-8 and had an eight-game winning streak snapped. Westfield entered the contest having won 11 of 12 and 12 of 14.
The Blue Devils reached the Final Four for the third time in four years and were seeking to reach the final for the first time since winning their first crown in 2008.
Before Westfield knew it, the Blue Devils were down 6-0 just 33 seconds in after senior Felicia Claiborne began the game with a 3-point basket and then junior Bianca Partlow completed a conventional three-point play, making a layup, getting fouled and then making a free throw.
Another layup by Partlow, who missed Roselle's quarterfinal game Thursday with a stomach virus, made another layup to make it 8-0. Partlow finished with 18 points, which is slightly higher than her season average.
Westfield called a timeout to regroup.
"They're athletic, they were beating us down on the transition and we knew we had to get back with them because we knew they were going to run," Westfield head coach Joe Marino said. "Basically, they were hitting their shots, they were hot."
Slowly but surely, the Blue Devils chipped away at the deficit and got to within 21-15 heading into the second quarter. Venezia scored eight points – making six-of-six free throw attempts, fellow senior Amanda Markowski five and junior Katie Ponce two.
Westfield pulled to within five at 29-24 when junior forward Charlotte Lorentzen scored the first of her four baskets. Lorentzen and Markowski both finished with nine points.
"I remember it being that close," Venezia said. "We tired our best."
After Roselle's third turnover of the quarter, the Blue Devils had one possession to get closer than five, but could not get a shot off.
The Rams responded with a quick layup by Claiborne that sparked an 11-2 run to end the half, giving Roselle a 40-26 lead at intermission.
Consecutive inside baskets during the run by Partlow followed Westfield turnovers as the Blue Devils began to run out of steam a bit.
"We went in the lockerroom down by 14, but we knew we could be in the game if we shut them down," Marino said. "We had to shut them down and get rebounds, but they took control of the boards, they really did."
"Roselle is a great team and they have athletic girls and great players," Venezia said. "We've had a great season so far and we're looking forward to the states."
Roselle continued to increase its lead in the third quarter, with an inside basket by sophomore Nyasia Davis giving the Rams their first 20-point lead at 54-34 with just less than four minutes left in the period.
Roselle won all four quarters, including the third 18-13 and the fourth 15-7. Claiborne finished with 11 points and teammate Shan-Tasia Padgett with 10.
UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS AT RC
7-WESTFIELD (13-8) 15 11 13 7 – 46
3-ROSELLE (19-5) 21 19 18 15 - 73
WESTFIELD (46):
15-Diana Venezia, senior 3-2-6-18
2-Katie Ponce, junior 2-0-1-5
22-Amanda Markowski, senior 3-1-0-9
20-Charlotte Lorentzen, junior 4-0-1-9
4-Danielle Miller, junior 1-0-1-3
10-Nicole Bilica, senior 0-0-0-0
12-Anne Knisely, senior 0-0-0-0
21-Nikki Aronson, senior 0-0-0-0
23-Gab Cerami, senior 0-0-0-0
25-Krista Embrett, junior 0-0-0-0
33-Jessica Mondon, senior 0-0-0-0
44-Sara Nelson, senior 0-0-2-2
Totals: 13-3-9-46.
Starters: Ponce, Miller, Venezia, Lorentzen, Markowski.
ROSELLE (73):
24-Jakoya Duggans, senior 6-4-2-26
13-Nyasia Davis, sophomore 2-0-2-6
10-Shan-Tasia Padgett, senior 4-0-2-10
21-Bianca Partlow, junior 7-1-1-18
30-Felicia Claiborne, senior 4-1-0-11
32-Sabery White, junior 0-0-0-0
11-Johanna Jaramillo, freshman 1-0-0-2
22-Sandra Jaramillo, freshman 0-0-0-0
Totals: 24-6-7-73.
Starters: Duggans, Padgett, Partlow, Clairborne, White.
35th ANNUAL FRANK J. CICARELL
GIRLS' BASKETBALL UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT
SEEDS: 1-Roselle Catholic. 2-Summit. 3-Roselle. 4-Cranford.
5-Oak Knoll. 6-New Providence. 7-Westfield. 8-Linden.
9-Dayton. 10-Gov. Livingston. 11-Johnson. 12-Union Catholic.
13-Union. 14-Plainfield. 15-Hillside. 16-Rahway.
17-Scotch Plains. 18-Elizabeth. 19-Kent Place. 20-St. Patrick.
PRELIMINARY ROUND:
Friday, Feb. 12
At Johnson
Scotch Plains 52, Rahway 34
Saturday, Feb. 13
At Rahway
Union 75, St. Patrick 14
Plainfield 50, Kent Place 40
Hillside 58, Elizabeth 37
FIRST ROUND:
Monday, Feb. 15
At Johnson
Linden 60, Dayton 57
Roselle Catholic 63, Scotch Plains 31
At Roselle Catholic
Oak Knoll 34, Union Catholic 28
Cranford 50, Union 43
At Rahway
Johnson 35, New Providence 34
Roselle 70, Plainfield 53
At Union Catholic
Westfield 49, Gov. Livingston 41
Summit 63, Hillside 44
QUARTERFINALS
Thursday, Feb. 18
At Rahway
Cranford 57, Oak Knoll 44
Roselle Catholic 63, Linden 43
At Roselle Catholic
Roselle 65, Johnson 58 (OT)
Westfield 47, Summit 45
SEMIFINALS
Tuesday, Feb. 23
At Roselle Catholic
Roselle 73, Westfield 46
Roselle Catholic 75, Cranford 50
FINALS
(the higher seeded teams wear home uniforms)
Friday, Feb. 26
At Roselle Catholic
Junior varsity: 5:30 p.m.
Varsity: 3-Roselle vs. 1-Roselle Catholic, 7:30 p.m.
