When a program sustains success and racks up championships like the Westhill boys basketball team has done, the setbacks can sting a bit more.
Yet no defeat the Warriors has taken in recent memory might hurt as much as Saturday night’s 63-60 loss to Lowville in the Section III Class B semifinal at SRC Arena.
It wasn’t simply because Westhill’s two-year reign as sectional champions ended. It was the way it happened – sudden, dramatic and severe, a double-digit fourth-quarter lead gone in less than 90 seconds and, soon after, a season brought to an abrupt end.
All seemed just fine when Ryan Gilmartin hit a driving layup with 3:23 to play that gave no. 4 seed Westhill a 56-45 lead on the top-seeded Red Raiders.
Though it had struggled early on the defensive front, the Warriors had gained control in the middle stages, taking the lead late in the second quarter and nursing that margin until it scored nine straight points at the start of the final period.
That made it 54-41, and after Lowville made back-to-back baskets, Gilmartin converted to restore the double-digit margin, little dreaming that, within a short amount of time, that lead would disappear.
A 3-pointer by Alex Thomas began the Red Raiders charge. It pressed on defense, forcing Westhill into a series of turnovers and fouls that, within a matter of seconds, put the defending champions in danger.
Gavin Macaulay hit a layup. Then Chad Bach, who would lead Lowville with 21 points, converted on back-to-back possessions as the pressure mounted and so did the turnovers.
When Aidan Macaulay hit a short jumper with 1:56 left, the Red Raiders had tied it, 56-56, and after another empty Westhill possession, Hudson White drilled a 3-pointer with 1:05 to play and Lowville led – a 14-0 run, all in a span of barely two minutes.
Though Elliott Rouse cut the margin to one seconds later, Lowville converted again on its next possession, and twice in the waning seconds Zach Brown had tying 3-point attempts go off target.
Prior to the nightmarish ending, Dan Washburn had produced 21 points to lead the Warriors as Brown got 15 points. Rouse finished with eight points.
Gavin Macaulay had 18 points, including two key free throws late, and Aidan Macaulay 11 points for Lowville, who advanced to face General Brown in next Sunday’s sectional final at the Carrier Dome.
