John Jay’s Season Ends in Westlake

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On Friday February 21, John Jay opened the sectionals at Westlake High School and played a back and forth game for almost the entirety of the game. Down 46-43 with five minutes left in the game, the Wolves were not able to keep up.

The Wildcats forced the turnovers and hit their shots to take a 59-51 victory.

John Jay did come out hot, though. Will Green found Marc Fein inside for a layup, and Braydon Gates hit from long range for a 5-0 John Jay lead.

Westlake did answer with a post up move by Anthony Nigrelli, and a coast to coast layup by Liam Hannon. But Gates was not impressed. After the ball went around the horn, the junior drained a triple, and Jay led by a score of 8-5.

Not for long, Hannon made sure. He got inside twice for layups, and the home team had their first lead of the day.

9 to 8, the Wildcats would go up go up 14-10 on the accuracy of Eoin Lynch. He spotted up and connected from downtown with 1:46 left in the quarter.

Still, Gates did not miss a beat. He got his chance again from long range and sent the Wolves into the second period down by one point.

Onto the second period, Marcus Jackette capped a 7-2 run with a three and a pass through the backdoor. But the Wolves were equal to the task. Nate Summer got three right back from downtown, and on a baseline feed from Green, the freshman hit a jumper to give his team the lead back.

22-21, Gates had his say too. He came across the paint for a jumper and went long distance to give the Wolves a 27-23 halftime lead.

The momentum seemed to continue out of intermission too. Alex Palacio ripped the opening offensive rebound, and his put back extended the lead to six points. Timmy Pastore then kept it there with his turnaround jumper.

Unfazed, Gianluca Persampieri answered from short range, and three more from Lynch made it a one point game. Even so, John Jay kept punching away. Summer found Palacio all alone under the net, and next the favor was returned for Summer. He received on the baseline and converted the drive for a 35-32 game.

Another Gates triple kept up appearances, but three the Wildcat steals kept the score contained at 38-36. A period to go, Westlake quickly tied the affair. But the game still seemed on point when Pastore scored down low, while falling to the floor.

Unfortunately, the drop proved John Jay’s last lead. Eight straight by Westlake and the writing was on the wall.

Still, for a brief moment, Summer applied his eraser. He stroked a three and cut the lead in half at 4:30.

Just as fast, Westlake answered back from above the arc. No problem, the abruptness didn’t give Pastore any pause because his trajectory seemed on target. In and out, Westlake had no mercy in the face of Jay’s poor fortune.

They extended the lead back to eight, and after Pastore sunk a floater, defense did the rest.

Too much pressure, John Jay coughed the ball up twice, and the Wolves season was over.

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