BLYTHEWOOD – York Comprehensive gave the Westwood boys and girls basketball teams a chance to relax behind the 3-point line, get some points off transition, and close out landslide victories Tuesday night at the Westwood gym.
Santana Turner (1) goes up for an emphatic finish. | Leroy Howard
The Westwood girls blistered the Cougars 70-13 to open the night. When the boys took the floor, Russell Jones Jr. came up with five 3-
pointers in the first half, 21 points on the night, and the Redhawks cruised to an 80-43 victory.
“He was shooting it well in the first half,” Westwood head coach Ty Baumgardner said of Jones. “I was telling my assistants about his shots, those were in a rhythm shots. They weren’t forced, his feet were set. When he’s in a rhythm, he’s gonna make a lot of them.”
From the first basket—a Tyrell Huff 3-pointer—Westwood (21-1, 6-1 Region 3-4A) never trailed the Cougars (2-18, 0-7). The Redhawks scored 29 points in the second quarter to close out the first half with a 45-24 lead.
Westwood’s 24-9 third quarter run stretched that lead to 69-33, and the teams played the final quarter with a running clock.
Jones and the Redhawks were considerably more comfortable behind the 3-point arc than they were in their 79-64 loss at Region 3-4A leader Ridge View Jan. 18. Westwood nailed eleven 3-pointers Tuesday night, which surprised even Baumgardner.
“I didn’t know we had 11, that’s great. I know we didn’t have that many against Ridge View,” he said. “But (the shooting in the York game) is how we shot earlier in the year. We were shooting bombs. But that’s gonna happen over the course of a season. It’s gonna go up and down.”
Besides Jones, Kendall Wormack scored 14 points. Ta’Jay Dunlap and Huff had 13 points apiece.
Trashauna McCant (1) ignores the defensive pressure. | Leroy Howard
Jones and most of the starters sat for some time in the third and throughout the fourth quarter.
“It’s good to see, it’s what you want to see, guys that don’t play as much get a lot of minutes, they need to make the most of them and it’s good to see them do that.”
Since the Redhawks’ loss to the defending 4A state champion Blazers, they knocked out Richland Northeast 59-34 last week and followed up with Tuesday night’s victory over the Cougars.
Westwood is on the road at Lancaster Friday. The Bruins fell to the Redhawks 76-52 in their first meeting Jan. 11, but they can be a dangerous team, Baumgardner said.
“It’s on the road, and its’s a very difficult place to play,” he said. “It’ll be on a Friday night so the place will be packed.”
The Westwood girls improved to 18-5 and 6-1 in the region.
Unique Drake, Essence Marshall, Nyah Leveretter, and Maliyah Lockett all scored in double figures for the Redhawks. Drake had 15 points, Marshall 14, Leveretter 13 and Lockett 11.
Westwood 80, York 43
York – 7-17-9-10 – 43
WHS – 16-29-24-11 – 80
York: Jwon Long 11, Proctor 8, Witherspoon 8, Fulk 5, Dotson 4, Phillips 3, Brown 2, Dalton 2.
WHS: R. Jones Jr. 21, Kendall Wormack 14, Tyrell Huff 13, Ta’Jay Dunlap 13, Watson 7, Turner 6, Savage 2, Farmer 2, Horn 2.
Westwood 70, York 13
York – 4-2-5-2 – 13
WHS – 10-24-24-12 – 70
York: Long 5, Baker, 2, Green 2, Howell 2.
WHS: Unique Drake 15, Essence Marshall 14, Nyah Leveretter 13, Maliyah Lockett 11, Mccant 7, Wade 6, Etheridge 4.
