| By KEVIN WEAKS
Messenger Sports
Westview made sure the early end to Obion Central’s season came very early indeed.
Running off 11 straight points in the first quarter, the Chargers built up a double-digit lead that shook a little in the third quarter but never fell in an 84-55 win in the quarterfinals of the District 13AA Tournament Wednesday night at Martin.
It was the second of two games in the lower half of the bracket as No. 3 seed Haywood held off sixth-seeded Crockett County for a 75-69 win.
In the top half at Covington, the top-seeded home team put away Gibson County 65-32 following Ripley’s 54-47 win over Dyersburg.
The tournament now shifts to Dyersburg for the semifinals on Friday night, where Covington will play Ripley at 6:30, followed by Westview against Haywood at 8.
All four teams are guaranteed three more postseason games, beginning with those semifinal games. The winners will move into the championship game 8 p.m. Monday. The semifinal losing teams will play in Monday’s 6:30 p.m. consolation game.
Central, meanwhile, begins looking toward next year.
For the Rebels, who ended the season at 12-16, that is a somewhat pleasing thought as the team had no seniors on the postseason roster.
“We have everybody back for next year, so hopefully this is a learning experience,” OC head coach Bill Kail said. “We understand what our weaknesses are, and we can build on that for next year.”
One thing Central struggled with was Westview’s athleticism, seen mainly in the team’s pressure defense that turned Rebel errors into Charger points throughout the decisive first half.
OC led 3-2 early on a 3-pointer by Bryan Morris, who had an outstanding game with seven of his team’s nine 3-point baskets and a game-high 31 points.
“He’s slowly gotten better all year,” Kail said of Morris. “He carried us. When he’s carrying us like that and scoring points, it makes everybody else better.”
But, the Chargers were even more impressive from beyond the circle, hitting 12 treys on the night, beginning with a Jazell Baker three that followed two baskets in the paint for the home team and gave Westview a 7-3 lead early.
OC closed to within 8-6 on Morris’ second triple, but Jordan Davis connected from long range and both Antonio Hogard and Baker scored in transition for a 19-6 lead with just under three minutes to play in the opening period. RJ Scott’s 3-pointer put Westview up 22-8 at the end of the period.
Morris hit three more triples in the second quarter, but the more balanced Charger lineup pushed the lead to 41-18 late on two threes by Davis, another from Baker and a layup off a steal by Hogard.
Brett Scillion had a nice tip-in at 3:38 of the third quarter, and Morris got the Rebs within 12 at 49-37 on a basket off an offensive rebound with 2:50 to play.
“Give them credit for making a run at us in the third quarter,” Suiter said. “We were fortunate we had that cushion because they controlled the pace in the third quarter.”
But, Westview quickly rallied, Javier Gordon with a 3-pointer followed by Davis with two more for a 60-39 lead at 1:14.
“We got it to 12, and our goal was to cut it in half,” Kail said. “We were trying to get it to eight, but then we had a couple of turnovers and they hit some big threes. They were able to take the momentum back and make a couple of big shots.”
The Chargers led 63-44 at the end of the third and eventually stretched the margin to 30 points in the fourth.
Morris was OC’s only player in double figures, while four reached that for Westview, led by Baker with 22.
Hogard and Davis each had 14, and Gordon added 10.
Haywood 75, CC 69
The Tomcats were in a battle most of the night, but the final score was a little misleading as Haywood scored 17 straight points from the final minutes of the third quarter through the first half of the fourth to build a double-digit lead.
Haywood was behind 47-45 late in the third but closed the period with a 53-47 lead and then expanded that to 62-47 in the fourth.
Haywood was up 18-16 after one quarter and 36-34 at the half.
Jalen Benton scored a game-high 26 points and Jeffrey Starks added 13 to pace the ’Cats. Devin Nash had 21 points, Jordan Mosier scored 18 and William Edwards pitched in 13 for the Cavaliers.
The teams combined for 12 3-pointers, Crockett County hitting seven. Haywood was 22-of-29 at the free throw line, compared to Crockett’s 16-of-23 mark. Published in The Messenger 2.16.12 |
