On Monday night, the Wolverines needed every bit of Swanson’s scoring touch as his 31 points helped edge the Dunkirk Marauders 59-55 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day High School Showcase at Fredonia State University’s Dods Hall.

After trailing most of the night, Westfield (8-5, 3-2 CCAA D2 West) finally regained the lead at 54-52, and when the score reached 57-55, Swanson found himself on the free throw line to put away the game. Swanson hit his mark on both shots to give Westfield a two-score lead in the final 20 seconds.

Westfield found itself chasing a Dunkirk (1-7, 0-2 CCAA D1 West) team that came ready to play with several players with high energy attacking the basket. After a quarter, Dunkirk built a 14-6 lead as the Wolverines struggled to finish in the face of a tenacious Marauders’ defense.

“Our shots weren’t falling from anything called a jump shot,” Westfield head coach Nolan Swanson stated. “We talked about it at halftime and it didn’t get too much better in the second half. We just talked about having to muddy up the waters and bang in a little bit … get it to our big guys a little more. It didn’t happen too well, but (Chris) Rotunda did come up with a good game there with a dozen points underneath.”

Dunkirk’s Lorenzo Lewis (2) blocks a shot by Westfield’s Aaron Fuller (34) during Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day High School Showcase at SUNY Fredonia’s Dods Hall. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms

But as the game wore on, so did the Westfield press.

In the second quarter, Westfield really started to benefit from its defensive pressure. While Dunkirk showed off its athleticism running down the floor in transition, Westfield proved its athleticism could keep up and cause issues.

“That’s the depth of my bench,” Swanson said about the Westfield defense. “I have a good 10 guys I can play, quick athletic kids. Maybe we were a little more fresh there as the game went on.”

Swanson benefited the most with six steals while Aaron Fuller grabbed three more of his own.

“He has become our volume shooter,” Coach Swanson said of Swanson. “On a rough night for his shooting like tonight — he wasn’t too good from the field — but the fact he can get the shots up there and I have two 6-6 kids underneath that can rebound if it doesn’t go in and that gives us chances. Then his defense leads to some of his easy points for sure.”

Both teams were tied at halftime 25-25, but once again it was Dunkirk starting the second half strong. Dunkirk had six different players score in the third quarter, providing help to Lorenzo Lewis and Quanyay Thomas who led the way in the first half.

The duo of Lewis and Thomas proved troublesome for the Wolverines all night long on both ends of the floor, finishing with 18 and 11 points, respectively. When not scoring, Thomas was playing strong on-ball defense and Lewis was a fearsome rim-protector with several blocks.

“They bring a lot to the floor,” Dunkirk head coach Sixto Rosario stated about Lewis and Thomas. “This is one of those games where Quanyay is hitting, he got a few points tonight and we’re happy with that. Lorenzo is consistent with him. We know when he’s on the court he’s a tough player.”

In the fourth quarter, Westfield’s defense came through in the biggest way possible, limiting the Marauders to single-digits to hold on for the victory.

“I think they fought through the whole game,” Rosario stated. “They brought an exciting atmosphere. I’m happy with how they played the game. They didn’t give up and fought through it.”

WESTFIELD (59)

Strang 3 0 7, Russo 0 1 1, Lawrence 0 0 0, Tuah 0 0 0, Swanson 10 8 31, Ormsby 0 0 0, Vacanti 1 0 2, Larson 0 0 0, Rotunda 6 0 12, Fuller 2 2 6. Totals 22 11 59.

DUNKIRK (55)

Thomas 5 0 11, Lewis 7 3 18, Rodriguez 4 0 8, DiPalma 1 0 2, Nunez 2 0 5, WSantiago 0 0 0, Gaines 0 0 0, Cruz 2 0 4, Vega 0 0 0, Orcutt 3 1 7, Sellers 0 0 0, MSantiago 0 0 0. Totals 24 4 55.

3-point goals–Swanson 3, Strang, Thomas, Lewis, Nunez.

Westfield 6 19 20 14 — 59

Dunkirk 14 11 22 8 — 55