City of Basketball Love

Jared Leveson (@jared_leveson) 
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NEWTON — Westtown is growing up. 

Head coach Seth Berger’s deep and youthful roster is coming together and finding its stride in the new year. 

Senior captains Se’yphon Triplett (Stonehill) and Matt Mayock (American) are the glue that binds Westtown together. The two roommates’ guidance and accountability toward their younger teammates is helping the Moose mature quickly and win gritty games against high-level competition. 

Triplett’s lockdown defense combined with Malik Rasul’s (19 points) versatility and Mayock’s (20 points) scoring prowess propelled Westtown to a 59-51 win over Friends School League rival George School in a marquee matchup on Friday night. 

“I thought it was a great win,” Berger said. “Our team is really starting to come together. They knew what they wanted to do on offense and defense and to their credit, in a pressure environment like this, they went out and did the right things.” 

“We’ll see them (George) in the (FSL) playoffs and in the state playoffs. I think anyone that wins the league or the state is gonna have to beat George at some point. They are a fantastic team and very well coached.” 

“It feels amazing to beat George School,” Triplett added. 

Triplett did not light up the scorebook, but that didn’t matter to him. The Stonehill commit had one job in Westtown’s (9-5, 2-0) game plan against George (9-3, 1-1)— shut down Christian Bliss. 

The six-foot guard understood the assignment and flawlessly executed it. Triplett helped hold Bliss, who scored 34 points in the Cougars’ 75-62 win over Friends Select on Wednesday, to five points on 2-of-11 shooting Friday.  

“I don't think I’ve seen anyone in high school basketball this year do a better job on Christian Bliss than Se’yphon Triplett did tonight,” Berger said. “Christian probably averages 20 a game or something like that. He’s gotten thirty before and Se’yphon held him to five.” 

“I am one of the best defenders out there,” Triplett said about locking down last season’s first team All-FSL honoree. “I take that (defense) very seriously. My thing was don't let him touch the ball.”

“He touched the ball a couple times. But when he touched it, I forced him into bad shots.” 

With Bliss shut down, Luke Bevilacqua carried the load for George offensively.

Bevilacqua got tested by Westtown’s defense early on and the 6-11 forward responded. 

The sophomore transfer from Neumann-Goretti finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and one block. He scored from all three-levels and was George’s most consistent offensive option throughout the contest. 

“He’s nice,” Rasul said about Bevilacqua. “He’s got great touch. His jumper looked really good. He’s an elite big.” 

“Credit to him,” Berger added. “We wanted to see if he can make shots and he sure let us know that he could make shots.” 

Westtown trailed by two-points at the halftime break because of Bevilacqua and Ivan Ryabov’s sharpshooting. However, George’s offense could not make up for Bliss’ ineffectiveness against Triplett and the Cougars struggled offensively. 

“George is a great team,” Berger emphasized. “They didn't shoot it very well tonight but we know if, and when, we play them again, that’s not likely to happen again.”

Westtown got a boost from Rasul and Mayock who made critical shots and plays that helped the Moose capitalize on George’s cold-shooting night. 

Berger noted that the key to Westtown’s offensive and defensive success was Rasul’s play. 

A transfer from Sierra Canyon (Calif.), Rasul does a little bit of everything for Westtown. Berger has said previously that the 6-7 forward’s role in Westtown’s offense is similar to that of Draymond Green. 

The Tuscon, Ariz. native is a high IQ stretch-four who can guard all five spots on the floor and play four different positions on the offensive end.  

“I think he was the difference maker for us today,” Berger said about Rasul. “He did everything. He made shots, he made assists, he rebounded, he defended, he got their bigs in foul trouble. He is playing so well and he’s capable of so much.” 

“He’s having a bigger role than he did at Sierra, and now I think he’s trying to figure out just how good he is and how capable he is as a player.” 

Rasul is new to the FSL and East coast, but from spending time with teammates he understood how important Friday night’s game vs. George was for Westtown. The junior was locked in from the jump and finished his outing with 19 points and five rebounds. 

“I felt like I could see the floor super slow tonight,” Rasul said. “I was attacking the (defenses’) weakest points.” 

“Coach Seth does compare me to Draymond,” he continued with a laugh. “At first I didn't like it but I really see it (now). I'm a really high IQ player. I can shoot, I can dribble, I can pass, I was helping my teammates do everything.” 

The 6-foot-7 Mayock did not make things any easier for George. The dead-eye shooter scored six in the first half off of five shots, but found his rhythm in the second-half, scoring 14 points after a conversation with Berger and the Westtown staff. The stalwart forward also added five rebounds, four assists, and one steal. 

“I thought Matt Mayock took over the game,” Berger said. “At halftime a couple of our coaches said to him, ‘Hey listen bud, this is your time to take over the game.’ He did it.”

Westtown’s squad is deeply talented, but does not have a lot of competitive minutes under their belt. Newcomers like Jayden Kelsey, Matt Gilhool, Jayden Forsythe, Cam Wallace and Rasul rely on Triplett and Mayock’s leadership to guide them through adversity, which comes often with Westtown’s loaded schedule. 

Triplett and Mayock struggled adapting to their newfound responsibilities early on in the season. Westtown’s staff stopped talking for Triplett and Mayock and stayed silent during practice, throwing the two into the fire. 

“Matt Mayock and Se’yphon Triplett have grown into these fantastic leaders with the effort and communication,” Berger said.

“We weren’t really leading then they (the staff) just stopped talking,” Triplett said. “It helped us.” 

Since then, Triplett and Mayock have found their voices. Berger and the coaching staff briefly spoke about X’s and O’s and then the two captains addressed the team about effort and expectations during the halftime break. 

It showed on the floor. 

Westtown outscored George 16-6 in the third quarter to go ahead 42-34 and never gave the lead back.

“I felt like we came in with more energy,” Rasul said. “That halftime was great for us to talk as a team without the coaches. We got locked in.”

“We don’t really need to talk to them about playing harder or staying together,” Berger said. “Because that’s what Matt and Se’yphon do for us.”  

By Quarter:

Westtown: 11 | 15 | 16 | 17 || 59 

George:    18 | 10 | 6 | 17 || 51

Scoring: 

Westtown: Mayock 20, Rasul 19, Gilhool 12, Triplett 4, Forsythe 3, Kelsey 1

George: Bevilacqua 17, Nzeh 13, Ryabov 9, Bliss 5, Mastin 4, Weise 3