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Westwood Patriots boys smother L’Anse Purple Hornets, 57-6

L’Anse’s Paul Lister-Jacobson, front, dribbles past Westwood’s Cameron Mason Monday night at the Patriots’ gym. (Journal photo by Rachel Oakley)

ISHPEMING — Blake Hewitt dropped 16 points while Cameron Mason added 11 as the Westwood boys basketball team defeated L’Anse 57-6 at Westwood High School on Monday night.

The Patriots are 1-1 on the season after keeping the Purple Hornets in single digits in this nonconference game.

Westwood head coach Chad Hewitt said it took just a few minutes for his team to get into a groove.

“I was really happy with the way our kids came out,” he said. “I thought we were a little stagnant in the first quarter just kind of standing around and waiting for things to happen.

“We had to pick up the tempo of the game a little bit. I was happy with the way the kids responded about three minutes into the game and it’s always nice when you can knock down shots.”

Hewitt added that despite the blowout, his coaching strategy and game plan remains the same.

“We don’t coach any differently; no matter what five are on the floor you want to coach everybody the same,” he said. “Whether it’s the first minute of the game or the last minute of the game and that’s the way we approach things here.”

L’Anse head coach Kyle Koski could not be reached for comment after the game.

The Hornets started out with the 2-0 lead on a layup by junior Reese Waara. Junior guard Zach Niemi put the Patriots’ first points on the board with a 2-point shot of his own.

Right after that, senior center David Delarye gave Westwood the 4-2 lead on a putback and the Patriots never looked back, scoring 28 of the next 29 points to go up 32-3.

The Patriots held the Purple Hornets to just five points at the half and continued from there, scoring 25 second-half points and holding L’Anse to just a single free throw.

Mason is glad to return to the court after missing the last few seasons.

“It’s nice to be back out there, it’s always a good time with the great team we’ve got and we’re playing well,” he said. “We played some good defense and good defense transitions into good offense.”

Nathan Beckman added eight points for the Patriots while Delarye had six.

Alex Rajala and Waara had two points each for L’Anse.

Westwood also won the JV game 70-21.

L’Anse travels to West Iron County on Thursday while Westwood goes to Kingsford on Friday.

Email Ryan Spitza at sports@miningjournal.net.

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