Westfield Controls South Lakes, 57-35

Westfield Coach Doug Ewell said that his team was a little tired after trouncing West Springfield by 30 points the night before.

Apparently only a coach could tell.

Playing on back-to-back nights, the Bulldogs (2-1) maintained a favorable lead the entire game against South Lakes (1-1), beating the Seahawks 57-35.

"After going 5-13 last year, they are excited to play every night," Ewell said of his team wanting to start fresh in 2010. "We remind them that's not Westfield basketball. The years before that, we've been (a 20-win program). So 5-13 was something different for us, and we rechecked ourselves a little bit."

With a balanced inside and outside offense led by junior center Zach Elcano, the Bulldogs were difficult to stop.

Listed at 6-foot-10, Elcano scored a game-high 19 points and owned the paint whenever the Seahawks tried to penetrate in the lane.

"Westfield is a really good team," South Lakes Coach Andrew Duggan said. "Obviously they have a first team All-District player in Zach and their guards are better and more improved than last year."

Elcano wasn't the lone scoring threat for the Bulldogs. Junior guard Julius Rosa scored 10 points and connected on three 3-pointers. Rosa's fellow backcourt mate, senior David Aurora, scored eight points as well. Aurora made buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter to give Westfield a 13-8 lead.

He made another three-point shot late in the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a 26-10 lead on the way to leading 28-15 at halftime.

In total, 11 players scored for a Bulldog team not looking to rebuild, but to repeat what previous Westfield teams did in the Northern Region.

"We're a deeper basketball team from last year," Ewell said. "We're deeper and still very young, which is a good thing."

Playing without leading scorer D.J. Christian for most of the game, South Lakes had difficulty finding the bucket, especially inside the paint.

Through nearly three full quarters, only J.D. Wallace (13 Points) and Joe Daye (13 points) scored for the Seahawks.

The game was seemingly put out of reach late in the third quarter when Elcano made an 18-foot jump shot on the wing, which was followed up by a fast-break layup by Elliott Breen for a 41-21 Westfield advantage.

Representatives from William & Mary were on hand to scout Elcano. Coach Ewell said that Holy Cross and George Mason have already sent out coaches to scout the blossoming junior.

"Zach gets a lot of looks because he's so tall and he works real hard and is getting better everyday," Ewell said.

Westfield plays Friday at Hayfield.