The third-seeded Westwood Cardinals (18-7) extended their winning streak to eight games with a 60-30 win over the 14th-seeded Leonia Lions (9-16) in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group 2 Tournament First Round at Westwood Regional High School.

Joe Cerritelli amassed a game-high 20 points for the Cardinals, while Nick Klein supplied 14 points.

Westwood trailed early 11-7 as Leonia sizzled from behind the arc, led by Evan Kwan, burying three trifectas. However, the Cardinals responded with a 5-0 to reclaim the lead.

The Cardinals sparked on the offensive end with Joe Cerritelli tallying eight points, including nailing two triples. With 0.5 secs remaining, Gabe Arcieri went from coast-to-coast and elevated for a spectacular layup that drew contact and resulted in a three-point play and an 18-13 advantage at the end of the quarter.

“Joe’s only a two-year kid, a really good player, and everyone knows about him,” Head Coach Rob Carcich said. “Leonia tried to stop him, so we added a few different plays.”

In the second quarter, Westwood continued to flourish offensively by consistently driving to the rim for layups while knocking down jump shots from the perimeter. 5 different players netted points that boosted the Cardinals' lead to 33-22 at halftime.

“We discussed these things at halftime, and they worked,” said Head Coach Rob Carcich. “We allowed 22 points, nine from threes, so we emphasized better defense to prevent open shots.”

“We played well, which is good to see after a long period off. We hadn't played since last Saturday, and we started the game by missing four shots in a row in the first quarter, so we were a little rusty. But we got it back and played well as the game went on.”

It took time to gel. We started with two freshmen and added a couple more from other sports, so it takes time. This team has come together, is tight-knit, and everyone knows their roles and plays as hard as possible, which is great.

Once the third quarter got underway, the Cardinals rapidly widened their lead by leaning on their bread-and-butter slashing to the rim for layups and getting out on the fast break. Nick Klein took charge on offense, totaling ten points and canning two treys. By the time the period ended, Westwood. In the fourth quarter, with the Cardinals well ahead, bench players got valuable playing time.

“That was good, and I think our state tournament championship experience helped us tonight,” Head Coach Rob Carcich remarked. “We didn’t panic even when Leonia, the 14th seed, had the lead early. We stayed calm and didn't lose our composure.”

Westwood returns to the hardwood court on Saturday, hosting the 11th seed Parsippany Hills Vikings(15-10) with tip-off set for 2 p.m. at Westwood Regional High School. The Vikings defeated Dumont 49-45 in the first round.

“We won our first league championship since 2018, which is great, but now we have to win Saturday,” Head Coach Rob Carcich said. “We focus on winning the next game—there’s no tomorrow. We’ve essentially been in playoff mode for a month. The big crowd tonight was great, and hopefully we’ll see another on Saturday.”