Lloyd elevates Westview Posted: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 12:02 am
By: Sara Rachels — Special to the Weakley County Pres 
Huge finish — Westview senior Jacob Lloyd poured in 19 fourth-quarter points to rally his Chargers to a district semifinal win. Photo by Sara Rachels | | | The most successful results often come from high-pressure situations. That was the case as Westview senior Jacob Lloyd lifted his Chargers to an improbable rally for a 66-65 win over Dyersburg in the District 13-AA Tournament
For the majority of their 13-AA semifinal battle, the Westview Chargers had the upper hand on the Dyersburg Trojans. Going into the fourth quarter, however, the Trojans managed to swing the momentum in their favor. At the 6:41 mark, after making a layup to give the Chargers a 40-38 edge, Lloyd picked up his fourth foul and Dyersburg recognized an opportunity to exploit the senior’s misfortune. Lloyd never got the message. Nineteen fourth-quarter points later and capped off by a game-winning layup with 2.8 seconds remaining, Lloyd emerged the hero and the primary reason Westview advanced to the championship game with a 66-65 win on Friday night in Dyersburg. The clutch guard finished the night with a game-high 35 points.
The Chargers opened the scoring when Javier Gordon recorded a steal, and Dillon Gardner tallied a stickback as Westview punched the scorecard first, 2-0. Tavarus Graves scored the next five for Dyersburg including a three. Both squads struggled to keep possession in the early minutes, but the Chargers eked out a two-point edge, 13-11 at the end of one quarter behind six points from Lloyd.
Lloyd opened the second with a three from the corner and as Westview entered the bonus and gained aggression on offense, Dyersburg slacked up on scoring. The combination of Lloyd and Antonio Hogard, with eight and six points, respectively, powered the Chargers to a 29-18 halftime lead.
Gardner gave Westview its largest lead of the contest thus far with a layup to start the third, but the Trojans came out of the locker room with a new purpose and a determination not to let down their large home crowd. Fueled by two straight 3-pointers from D.J. Adams, Dyersburg stormed back with a 12-0 run to pull within a single point, 31-30. Hogard and Gordon stretched the WHS advantage to four, but Tavis McPhearson and Graves tied the contest at 36-36. Jazell Baker converted a layup just before the buzzer, however, and Westview stayed afloat after three, 38-36.
The Trojans continued to challenge the Chargers point for point in the fourth and found success with the 3-ball. When Lloyd sat briefly due to his foul issues, Graves exploded with two threes and Dyersburg raced to a 51-44 lead with just under five minutes left.
Westview entered the bonus and Lloyd, back on the court, took the Chargers on his back. Delivering from the foul line, he hit both free throws to pull the Chargers within three, 55-52, with 2:57 left. He encored this by stealing the ball and hitting a three to tie the contest. Blake Parr answered with a Trojan three, but Lloyd put up another 3-pointer to tie the score again. Graves made a layup and Lloyd was fouled. Hitting one of two, he closed the Dyersburg lead to one, 60-59, but Parr came back with yet another three for the Trojans to put the lead at four, 63-59. Lloyd again hit one of two and Baker hit one of two as well to make it a one-possession game, 63-61, with 52 seconds remaining.
Dyersburg entered the bonus and Marcus Nelson missed the front end of a one-and-one chance. Lloyd knocked down one at the line with 39.6 seconds and Gordon followed with a layup to take the lead back for the Chargers, 64-63, with 25 seconds left. Graves lost control on the inbounds pass and Gordon grabbed possession and was fouled. He missed both freebies, but Graves traveled on the rebound. With 9.5 seconds remaining and Westview retaining possession, Charger fans celebrated what they thought was a sure victory, until Graves went flying and Gordon was whistled for a dead ball foul just before the inbounds pass. With 7.1 seconds remaining, Graves made both free throws and Dyersburg led, 65-64. Lloyd then drove the length of the court and found the bottom of the net on a fearless acrobatic runner that also drew a foul. He missed the accompanying free throw, but Graves’ half court heave fell short and sealed the deal for the Chargers, 66-65.
Lloyd led all scorers with 35. Graves put up 27 for the Trojans. With the win, Westview advances to the 13-AA championship game at 7:30 on Tuesday night in Dyersburg. The Chargers will take on Haywood, which upset the district’s No. 1 seed, Covington. Covington and Dyersburg will do battle for third place prior to the title game at 6 on Tuesday evening. District 13-AA Tournament
Semifinals
Feb. 18 at Dyersburg
BOYS
Westview (66) — Jacob Lloyd 35, Antonio Hogard 9, Dillon Gardner 8, Javier Gordon 6, Jazell Baker 5, Chris Evans 3.
Dyersburg (65) — Tavarus Graves 27, Marcus Nelson 11, Blake Parr 7, D.J. Adams 6, Winn Decker 4, Tavis McPhearson 4, Red McCrite 4, Hayden Jones 2.
3-pointers: Westview — Lloyd (3), Hogard, Evans; Dyersburg — Graves (3), Adams (2), Parr (2), Nelson.
Records: Westview 23-8, Dyersburg 18-12. None |
