Only Westview boys aided by split with OC

Posted: Thursday, February 7, 2013 12:00 pm

By MIKE HUTCHENS
Press Sports
The District 13AA pecking order in both girls’ and boys’ play will go down to the final Friday of the regular season.
That’s good news for the Westview boys, but bad for the Lady Chargers.
The Martin boys will play at Crockett County for the No. 2 seed behind league champion and second-ranked Covington after rallying to beat Obion Central 79-73 Tuesday night in Troy.
The fifth-ranked Westview girls, though, now find themselves in a three-team log jam atop the district after dropping a 47-40 decision to OC.
Depending on Friday’s games (Westview at Crockett County and Obion Central at Covington), the Lady Chargers could finish anywhere among the top three seeds.
District 13AA coaches met Wednesday night but could not finalize a tournament bracket until Friday’s results are posted.
There will be two girls’ and a pair of boys’ play-in games on Saturday, but none of those will involve Martin’s teams.
The Press will post the official bracket online at the newspaper’s website (nwtntoday.com) late Friday evening.
Westview 79, OC 73 (B)
A run of 13 consecutive points during a four-minute span in the fourth quarter helped the Chargers erase what was, at one time, a 13-point deficit in the first half.
Westview (22-6, 14-3) — which enjoyed a decided advantage in the quickness and athleticism department, but was outsized tremendously inside — forced four of OC’s 23 turnovers during a stretch in which it went from down 60-58 to up 71-60 with just under three minutes to play.
Tyquis Johnson drained consecutive 3-point shots from deep to jump-start the deciding Charger rally. Javier Gordon scored inside, Jazell Baker made a bucket and Jordan Davis sank two free throws to flurry.
“It (the deciding stretch) was a by-product of our quickness that led to the turnovers and we were able to convert,” Westview head coach J.B. Suiter said afterward.
“Now, it comes down to what we do Friday as far as the seeding for the tournament.”
The Chargers made 11-of-17 free throws in the fourth quarter, several of those down the stretch to keep Central from getting any closer than the final margin.
Baker led a parade of double-figure scorers for the victors with 20 points. Antonio Hogard added 15, Gordon and Johnson each finished with 13 and Davis pitched in with 10.
Central (12-13, 6-10) got a game-high 27 points from Shaw Logan.
OC 47, Westview 40 (G)
While not in the boys’ game, bigger was indeed better in the opener.
Central (23-6, 14-2) added to a decided size advantage inside with University of Memphis signee Brandi Goodman by putting 5-10 Dianna Flippen in the lineup in a double-post alignment.
Goodman and Flippen combined for all 21 first-half OC points and 30 of their final total while dominating the interior.
The Lady Chargers compounded their difficulties with poor perimeter shooting over the first two quarters when they made just four field goals during those 16 minutes.
Martin did show some signs of life in the second half, getting a pair of 3-pointers by Kendall Leyhue and one each from Alexus Taylor and Katelyn Luthi to halve what was a 12-point deficit to six (34-28) late in the period.
A Teddy Vincent triple with just under six minutes left got Westview (23-4, 15-2) as close as 36-31, but Obion Central made up for not hitting a field goal in the final frame and kept the Lady Chargers at bay by hitting 11-of-16 from the foul line.
“They did a good job of pounding it inside and we did a poor job of rotating defensively,” Westview skipper Sean Stephenson said following the contest. “We didn’t adjust. And we didn’t attack on the offensive end either. We settled for perimeter shots instead of penetrating and kicking it off.
“We had open shots too, and just didn’t make them. We haven’t shot it well against them in their gym for several years. I really don’t think it’s a mental thing though, because we played well here when they hosted the district tournament a couple of years ago.”
Leyhue and Kaitlyn Harrelson both had nine points to pace the Lady Chargers, while Vincent and Tiffany Rechis scored eight.
Central’s Goodman led all point-makers with 21.

Published in The Press 2.7.13