Westwood Bests Demarest in Holiday Consolation Matchup

The Lady Cardinals took hold of the game following a shaky first quarter and held on for solid 53-43 win over Demarest in the consolation game of the Holiday Hoops Tournament at Thursday.

The youthful squad was led by the outstanding play of freshman point guard Kelly Svorinic who scored 15 points while helping Westwood control the tempo of the game. Her biggest contribution may have been breaking the ice with three free throws early. 

"We needed to play with confidence and get some continuity going. Playing with energy and focus have been our focuses with our team since we are quite young," said Westwood head coach Dana Farinella. "Our seniors play a huge part in our leadership and today everyone resounded."

Highlighting the balanced effort was solid play by the forward group including seniors Jaclyn Hrbek and Chrissy Sudibya who combined for seven points and intense inside defense that helped curb Demarest's several runs at Westwood's lead.

Another stopper came by way of the timeout as coach Farinella seemed to stop the action at the right time.

"I didn't need to correct them during the timeouts as much as I needed to slow them down. They were playing too fast and getting away from what had worked so well," said Farinella.

Farinella's game management was highlighted by a timeout at the 4:57 mark of the fourth quarter as Demarest creeped back to within six at 42-36. Immediately following the break, the Cardinals scored on great looks by Hrbek and Svorinic. Even more importantly, their defense stepped up the intensity and rarely allowed good looks at the basket. They did so without fouling.

"We worked hard on defense and we can take away a lot of good things from this victory," said Farinella.

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