Bridesmaid no more: Lady Charger squad storms to Lions title

By RANDY CAVIN
Press Sports
After two years of having to settle for second place, the Westview girls’ basketball team finished back on top in the 48th Annual Lions Club Christmas Tournament.
This makes the 10th championship out the last 12 Christmas tournaments for the Lady Chargers (15-2), and they won it by using their trademark defense in a 61-24 win over Gleason (10-4) Saturday.
Westview also used solid defense to beat Humboldt 58-33 in the quarterfinals Thursday and Madison Academic 64-40 in the semifinals Friday.
WV 61, Gleason 24
It took the Lady Bulldogs 19 minutes and 30 seconds to put double digits on the scoreboard thanks to Westview’s defense that kept Gleason from getting any easy baskets.
“I thought we rebounded really well,” Westview head coach Sean Stephenson said. “They did not get a lot of second chances after they shot it. I just thought that Gleason had a hard time with our defense.”
The Lady Bulldogs only got three second-chance looks at the basket while turning the ball over 24 times to Westview’s 10.
Tournament MVP Teddy Vincent played a big part of that by dogging Gleason’s top player, Briana Jones, through much of the first quarter. Jones was only able to score two points in the opening period and just four in the first half.
“We played man (defense) in the first quarter,” Stephenson said. “Jones is a good player. If you are not careful, she will get you into foul trouble. She is capable of drawing fouls.
Jones led Gleason with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Vincent was also quiet in the first half with only four points as she got into a little bit of foul trouble. She woke up in the third period, though, by scoring 13 out of Westview’s 21 period points, including the first eight.
“I thought she came out and gave us a good start to the second half,” Stephenson said. “We did a good job of getting it to her, and she did a good job of working for it.”
Vincent led all scorers with 17 points and also led the game with five steals. Tiffany Rechis scored 15 points for the Lady Chargers. She also had four rebounds and four assists. Jasmine Howard added 10 points and eight rebounds. Howard had a solid tournament with 27 total points in three games.
“Jasmine played a heck of game,” Stephenson said.
Both Howard and Rechis were named to the all-tournament team. Gleason put three players on the all-tournament squad with Jones, Jaclyn Montgomery and Calay Smith making it.
Gleason’s only lead came at the 4:36 mark in the first period on a basket by Montgomery. Westview retook to lead on a basket by Vincent and went on a 12-point run that ended on a pair of free throws by Jones with 7:22 to play in the second.
The Lady Chargers went on an eight-point run to close out the first half with a 26-9 lead.
Gleason was looking for its third all-time tourney title, its other two coming in back-to-back years of 1997 and ’98.
WV 64, Madison 40
The Lady Chargers took away Madison’s inside presence and kept the Lady Mustangs from getting any good inside looks.
Westview’s defense was so good in the second period that Madison was only able to get three baskets while the Lady Chargers put 13 points on the scoreboard.
Westveiw led 25-16 at the break and turned up the offense in the second half with 36 points. Vincent scored a game-high 20 points, 14 coming in the second half.
Rechis scored 17 with a dozen of coming off of four 3-pointers. Howard added 10 for Westview. Kaley Leyhue, Kendall Leyhue and Kaitlyn Harrelson scored four points each.
WV 58, Humboldt 33
The Lady Vikings were no match against the defense the Lady Chargers threw at them in the first period.
Humboldt did not get the ball past midcourt in the first two minutes of the game with four quick turnovers, finishing the period 10 in all. The Lady Vikings turned the ball over 27 times in the game.
Westview was so aggressive on both defense and offense in the first period that Humboldt committed nine fouls in an attempt to slow down Westview. The Lady Chargers led 19-10 after one and 35-15 at the break.
It did not get any easier for Humboldt in the third as Westview took a commanding 50-21 lead by the end of the quarter.
Vincent led Westview with a game-high 18 points. Rechis was second in scoring with 13 points.
No Lady Viking scored in double figures with Chelsea Shivers leading with six points.
Both the Westview boys’ and girls’ teams will turn their attention to the District 13AA race and the postseason, beginning Friday by hosting Obion Central. Published in The WCP 1.1.13

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