BLYTHEWOOD – Both the Westwood and Blythewood girls basketball teams are working with new faces in the lineup. The Redhawks showed the Bengals Tuesday night that even with some new players on the scene, the results can be the same.
Returning starter Jessica Woods scored 24 points to lead Westwood’s young team to a 51-17 victory over their crosstown rivals. Thamia Davis, another returner, scored 12 points on the effort.
Westwood (4-3) is coming off the Queens of the Castle Showcase. The host team Redhawks fell 50-40 to AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, AZ) Thursday and 48-31 to Winston-Salem (N.C.) Christian Friday in that tournament, and followed up with a tough 41-40 loss to Lexington Saturday.
“We ran into some pretty good competition there where I think we grew up a little bit and found out a lot about ourselves,” Westwood head coach Gregory Bauldrick said. “But against Lexington we went into the fourth quarter leading 40-32. We didn’t even score one point in the fourth quarter, probably for the first time ever.”
Games like that may be tough on the record, but Bauldrick said he’d much rather lose now than during the final stretch of region competition late in the season.
“I think we bounced back tonight, and we’ll have a tough test tomorrow (Wednesday) at home against Sumter,” he added. “I think we’ll be up to the challenge.”
As for Blythewood, which ended last season on a high note with several Region 4-5A wins yet returns few players, the beat goes on.
“We have sixth 10th graders and the seniors have never played varsity before,” Blythewood head coach Steve Inabinett said. “Westwood’s a very good team and we knew that it was going to be a battle. They stepped up to the plate. They’re aggressive and that’s the way they play. There wasn’t much we could do about it tonight.”
High scorers for Blythewood (0-5) were Velincia Victrum with seven points and Larin Green with four.
“They did a pretty good job and we expect them to carry us,” Inabinet said. “But we need two or three more to step up. We’re going to be OK, we just need to stick to the process and trust it and we’ll be fine.”
Westwood played host to Sumter Wednesday and plays at Spring Valley Friday. Blythewood will rematch with the Redhawks Tuesday.
Westwood – 14-14-15-8 — 51
Blythewood – 2-9-6-2 — 19
Westwood: Jessica Woods 24, Thamia Davis 11, Daniels 67, Johnson 4, Thompson 3, Omiere 1, Branch 1.
Blythewood: Victrum 7, Green 4, Tyson-Dy 2, Joy 2, Fluker 2, Young 1.
