The Trojans wrapped up the regular season of their “transition year” on Wednesday and it still looks like they’re a contender.

After three quarters of action, Southwestern trailed Westfield 34-32, but in the final period five different girls got on the scoresheet as the Trojans scored 16 points to outlast the Wolverines 48-42 in nonleague action.

“Last year a lot of our offense went through Reece,” Southwestern head coach Kay Sirianni stated. “So this year there has been a huge adjustment because we have a lot of players who have a different role this year. Their role might be driving and attacking or shooting and scoring, where they didn’t have to as much. Actually, I’m really impressed, it took us a few games to learn the roles and to be able to have a 17-3 season with the loss of three awesome starters last year is spectacular.”

Several girls have had to step up their games this season, but a rising star in seventh-grader Gianna Sirianni has shown the future is bright for the Trojans. Leading the Wolverines 44-42 in the final minute, the Trojans ran down the shot clock and before the buzzer Sirianni was the one to get the shot, sinking her seventh triple of the contest to officially put the game out of reach.

Westfield’s Reagan Weingart defends a shot by Southwestern’s Gianna Sirianni during Wednesday’s nonleague game. Photo courtesy of Shelly Phillips

“Gianna has definitely put in the work in the offseason and you can see that in a game like tonight,” Coach Sirianni stated. “What really impresses me most about that is she’s willing to take that last 3-pointer and she’s not afraid. Her game right now is in a perfect spot to set some records in her future if she can continue to grow.”

Regardless of the final result, both coaches got what they wanted out of the contest heading into the postseason.

“It’s one of those games you want to have when you’re tuning up for the playoffs,” Westfield head coach Chris Dole stated. “Coach Sirianni and I just talked about the same thing, we had the same exact verbiage saying that we want to have this type of game springboarding into the playoffs because it makes us better. It’s iron sharpening iron. Our kids played great defense today, they moved the ball particularly well against their press and we got up and down the floor with them.”

The Westfield defense was strong all game, forcing the Trojans to get creative to find open shots and several girls were often needed to break the press.

“It worked to our advantage,” Dole said about the defense. “We did a great job up until the fourth quarter and then they kind of outrebounded us at the end. Our press created some havoc and I think the girls really like that. I’m getting more response from that, the kids are scoring a little bit more, the ball is getting spread around.”

Westfield stymied the Southwestern offense in the third quarter, putting them in good position to leave with a victory. The Wolverines received 11 points and five rebounds from Reagan Weingart, Mackenzie Schumaker had 10 points and four boards, and Olivia Wolfe collected three steals.

However, that would not be enough as the Trojans were able to put together their best quarter in the final frame to end its season on a high note. Sirianni posted a game-high 21 points, Ellie Pearson was right behind her with 12 points, three assists, three steals, four rebounds and two blocked shots; Marlana Cresanti collected seven rebounds and five steals; Braya Beaver had six assists and five rebounds; Juliet Genareo had 10 rebounds; and Charlotte Beaver reeled in eight boards.

“Ellie Pearson is someone who last year had the role as a sixth man,” Coach Sirianni stated. “Now she’s coming on and we can’t have her on the bench for very long. She’s great at defense, she’s an awesome defensive player who can cause a lot of deflections and steals and offensively if she’s on she’s making 3-pointers.”

With the victory, Southwestern finishes 17-3 adding another league title and will likely be the top seed in the Section VI Class B1 playoffs next week.

“The great thing about our defense this year, especially with pressing, is we can bring girls off the bench,” Coach Sirianni said. “We get fresh legs in there constantly. The girls are working well in the press playing as a team and I think to run a press and get those traps, deflections and steals you’ve got to be able to work as one unit and the girls are finally there.”

Westfield finishes the year with a 12-8 record and is positioned as the No. 7 team in Class C.

“Rebounding for one,” Dole said about what he’d like to see heading into the playoffs. “We definitely have to do that, because we always say defense travels, you have to take your defense with you. We need to continue to play defense the way we do, we need to rebound better and we need to take care of the ball better.”

WESTFIELD (42)

SWolfe 1 0 2, Hotchkiss 2 1 6, Douglas 2 4 9, Burgess 0 0 0, Weingart 4 1 11, OWolfe 2 0 4, Ottey 0 0 0, Schumaker 4 0 10, Smith 0 0 0. Totals 15 6 42.

SOUTHWESTERN (48)

GSirianni 7 0 21, Lewis 0 0 0, Cresanti 2 2 6, BBeaver 2 1 5, CBeaver 0 0 0, Pearson 4 2 12, Robinson 0 0 0, Genareo 2 0 4. Totals 17 5 48.

3-point goals–Hotchkiss, Douglas, Weingart 2, Schumaker 2, GSirianni 7, Pearson 2.

Westfield 8 13 13 8 — 42

Southwestern 12 12 8 16 — 48