Prep Sports

A strategic move: Westwood employs zone defense to pull off big 59-45 upset of Negaunee in Class C girls basketball district

“It's something we worked on quite a bit and hoped it was something they hadn't prepared for.” -- Kurt Corcoran, Westwood head coach,

on his team's defensive strategy against Negaunee

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ISHPEMING -- Negaunee coach Brandon Sager knew his team was providing bulletin-board material to Westwood without uttering a word.

That's why some coaches might consider the Miners' 20-0 regular-season record a double-edged sword -- it's a sign of excellence that also puts a target there for everyone to shoot at.

In the end, the Patriots took advantage of numerous fourth-quarter trips to the free-throw line to pull off a 59-44 upset of previously perfect Negaunee.

The teams were meeting for the third time this season as fellow competitors in the soon-to-disband Mid-Peninsula Conference.

Westwood coach Kurt Corcoran came in with a plan -- try something new, something the Miners might not have been practicing for.

"We played man(-to-man) defense the first two times against them, so we decided to play zone this time around," Corcoran said. "We tried to keep (seniors Natalie) Bartle and (Clara) Johnson in check, switching defenses on them.

"It's something we worked on quite a bit and hoped it was something they hadn't prepared for."

It seemed to throw Negaunee off its rhythm enough to keep it a low-scoring game for three quarters -- Westwood led just 38-34 entering the final period.

Then the march to the free-throw line began in earnest.

With Negaunee entering the bonus, then the double bonus, every late foul meant a trip to the line. Westwood ended up making 11 of 15 free throws in the final quarter, led by sophomore Maddie Koski making 5 of 6.

All five Westwood (15-6) starters scored in double figures, but no other Patriot scored a single point.

Sophomore Tessa Leece led the way with 14 points, while senior Marissa Carello added 13, Koski and sophomore Karlie Patron 11 each and senior Elizabeth Farley 10.

Patron said a two-point loss to Negaunee in mid-January inspired her team.

"Our strategy was to play the best basketball we could and lock down on defense," she said. "It was important to win the second chance points -- both on offense and defense -- and get to as many 50-50 balls as we could.

"We really prepared for this game and played our hearts out."

With virtually every Negaunee player exiting the locker room in tears about 15 to 20 minutes after the game was over, Sager was philosophical about the loss.

"They shot the ball really well," the Miners coach said about Westwood. "They earned it tonight.

"We couldn't get the shots to fall and we didn't execute when we had the opportunities. I don't think the girls felt the pressure of the perfect season.

"It was just in all of our 21 games, this was the one that didn't work out."

Bartle, one of two Negaunee players to foul out, finished with a game-high 18 points, 13 coming in the first half. Junior Abby Nelson was next with 11 points, while Johnson had just four points.

After nearly three minutes of scoreless basketball to start, Leece made a layup, was fouled and made the "and-1" free throw for a 3-0 score.

Then in less than three minutes, Negaunee grabbed a 9-3 advantage on a pair of 3s by Nelson and another triple by junior MacKenzie Karki.

Westwood closed the gap to 13-9 by the end of the quarter and tied it four times in the second period before trailing just 22-21 at the half.

The third quarter was a one-possession game for all but the last 75 seconds, which is when the Patron got inside for buckets about 20 seconds apart that made it 38-31.

Negaunee went cold to start the fourth as the Pats opened on a 6-0 spurt to make it 44-34 with 5:44 left. While the Miners got as close as five, they couldn't stop Westwood's free-throw avalanche as the Patriots put NHS in its rearview mirror.

Westwood meets Ishpeming for the Class C district title back at the Ishpeming High gym at 7 p.m. Friday.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.