Westwood led after every quarter except the last one on Wednesday, falling at Negaunee 49-46 in the regular season finale for both teams.
The two rivals strung together three consecutive 5-0 runs in the first half as Westwood led 13-11 after one quarter and 27-26 at halftime. Neither team led by more than four points through the first two stanzas.
Negaunee scored the first four points of the third quarter but Westwood ripped off an 11-0 run and forced a Negaunee timeout. The Miners responded with an 11-0 run of their own to take a 41-38 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Westwood scored six of the next seven points to retake the lead before Negaunee tied the game at 44-all with 2:05 left to play. The Miners then got a defensive stop and retook the lead with a pair of made free throws at the 1:07 mark. Then Negaunee forced a turnover and the Patriots committed their tenth team foul on the defensive end. Negaunee made both free throws to go up 48-44 with 31 seconds remaining and Westwood couldn’t connect on a deep three-point try during their next possession. Negaunee split a pair of free throws attempts with seven seconds left and a Taylor Dellangelo layup before the buzzer was too little, too late.
Blake Hewitt finished with 15 points, Nathan Beckman had 12 and Taylor Dellangelo 11 to lead three Patriots in double figures. Negaunee‘s Jason Waterman turned in a game-high 18 points to top the Miners. Westwood ends the regular season at 11-9 and have now lost their last three games by a combined eight points. The Patriots begin postseason play on Monday at Manistique. Westwood won both regular season meetings against the Emeralds; 52-45 on February 1st and 62-48 on February 8th. The winner will play Negaunee (13-7) on Wednesday in the district semifinals.