BLYTHEWOOD – The Westwood girls basketball team is in the thick of its region schedule – and thus far the Redhawks are enjoying it.
After knocking off defending 4A state champion North Augusta 61-59 Saturday in the MLK Bash at Eau Claire, Westwood rallied past, then routed Region 5-4A rival and defending 4A upper state champion South Pointe 52-42 Tuesday night at Westwood.
“We certainly understood that this was gonna be a tough week,” Westwood head coach Gregory Bauldrick said. “We didn’t want to have any let down, and I thought we did that in the first half.”
The Redhawks (17-3, 4-0) stumbled early in the game and fell into a 6-2 deficit three minutes in. Jala Wade’s putback sparked a 12-0 run for most of the first quarter, enabling the Redhawks to take a 16-8 lead by the second quarter.
Westwood held a 33-14 lead at the half and extended its lead to 46-24 going into the fourth.
The Stallions (16-2, 2-2) outscored the Redhawks 18-6 in the final quarter, but Westwood contained the rally and closed out the win.
“We couldn’t get comfortable in the second half for whatever reason,” Bauldrick said. “We found a way to win. We’ve got to be able to close out a win with teams like that.”
Nyah Leveretter led the way with 12 points and 14 rebounds on the night.
Randi Neal scored 22 points for the Stallions, 12 coming in the final quarter.
The Redhawks outrebounded South Pointe 28-20. Westwood shot 15-for-25 at the free throw line compared to South Pointe’s 12-for-28 effort at the charity stripe.
“They helped us a little bit,” Bauldrick said. “They did give us some opportunities, and thank goodness their free-throw shooting was a little down tonight, because otherwise we may be having a different kind of conversation.”
In the boys game, Westwood (13-5, 2-2) played shot-for-shot with South Pointe in a sloppy game, but came out a 43-37 winner over the Stallions thanks to six key fourth-quarter points from McQuaje McDaniels, who finished with eight points. Ty Turner led the way with 12 points.
Westwood plays host to Ridge View Friday.
Girls
Friday: Westwood 67, Lancaster 18
Westwood – 22-13-13-19 – 63
Lancaster – 6-2-6-4 – 8
Westwood: Ja’mari Frederick 19, Jessica Woods 19, Nyah Leveretter 13, Etheredge 8, McCant 4, Scott 4.
Lancaster: Roberts 9, Lynn 4, Coleman 3, Stratford 2.
Saturday: Westwood 61, North Augusta 59
MLK Bash at Eau Claire High School
North Augusta – 30-29 – 59
Westwood – 33-28 – 18
Tuesday: Westwood 52 South Pointe 42
South Pointe – 8-6-10-18 – 42
Westwood – 16-17-13-6 – 52
South Pointe: Randi Neal 22, Blake 9, Adams 3, Lane 2, McClurkin 2, White 2.
Westwood: Nyah Leveretter 12, Etheredge 8, Wade 8, Frederick 8, Woods 7, Mines 5, McCant 2, Thompson 2.
Boys
Friday: Lancaster 74, Westwood 63
Westwood – 10-13-14-26 – 63
Lancaster – 10 – 16 – 22 -26 – 74
Tuesday: South Pointe, Westwood
South Pointe – 12 -10-9-6 – 37
Westwood – 14-10-6-13 – 43
South Pointe – Watmond Jenerette 10, Bryson 6, Peterson 6, Burris 5, Williams 5, Joseph 3, Johnson 2.
Westwood – Ty Turner 12, Bre’on Lewis 10, McDaniels 8, McCray 4, McBride 2, Savage 2, Jefferson 2, Richardson 1, Faber 1, Peay 1.