BLYTHEWOOD – Three days after notching a first-round 65-52 win over Northwestern in the 4A playoffs, the Westwood boys basketball team dug in and held off an explosive South Florence team 60-59 in the second round Saturday night.
4A Player of the Year T.J. Bell scored a game-high 33 points, but in the fourth quarter Bell’s and Larry Brown’s foul shots preserved the win.
“He played like a leader. He missed a free-throw at the end and that kind of got me, but he started the game plan,” head coach Trent Robinson said about Bell, who scored 10 points in the first quarter and made four of six foul shots in the final two minutes to help preserve the win. “They (the Redhawks) had a chip on their shoulder. They beat us by one last year in the playoffs, and they wanted revenge.”
With the win, Westwood (22-2) hits the road Thursday to take on James Island. The Trojans (16-10) beat Richland Northeast 60-43 Saturday.
South Florence knocked off Westwood 49-48 in the first round last year. Robinson said he wanted his team to know that each game in the playoffs is bigger than the other, but the Redhawks took control early on and never gave up a lead.
The Bruins (17-11) had 10 turnovers in the first quarter as Bell and company built a 15-9 lead after the first quarter. Westwood forced five more South Florence turnovers in the second quarter and stretched its lead to 28-17 by the half. Bell accounted for 14 points by intermission.
“The second quarter was really good for us. We got some shots, we tried to keep big boy (6 feet-6-inches, 295-pounder Amare Adams, a Clemson football commit) out of the paint a little bit, tried to be physical with him, and my guards came in ready to shoot.”
Westwood kept pace with the Bruins in the third quarter as they cut the lead to eight points by third quarter’s end. The Redhawks had a 43-35 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Westwood still kept pace with the Bruins, but with the Redhawks up 51-41, South Florence nearly turned the tide.
Jackson Robinson hit one of two foul shots with 3:59 left to make it 51-42. Jamarie Brown got a putback soonafter to make it 51-44, and Ziyon Gamble got a steal and a layup to make it 51-46 with 3:37 to go.
Bell blunted that rally with a shot from the paint to make it 53-46, and seconds later the officials called a technical foul on the Bruins, which sent Bell to the line. He made both foul shots to give Westwood a 55-46 lead with 2:29 left.
The Redhawks made no more baskets after Bell’s, and South Florence’s Terrance Mourer hit a 3-pointer to make it 55-49 with 1:13 left.
Larry Brown’s pair of foul shots at the 1:01 mark got Westwood up 57-49, and another Brown foul shot with 17 seconds left put the Redhawks up 59-53.
Gamble hit a 3 with 9 seconds left, and after Bell’s foul shot with 8.8 seconds left, Gamble hit another 3. Bell’s last shot proved to be the winner, as the buzzer sounded off before South Florence could get another chance.
Gamble finished the night with 18 points and Adams added 11 points for the Bruins.
“We knew by the second quarter that we left some points on the table,” Robinson said, noting South Florence’s 27 turnovers on the evening. “We probably should have been up a little more, but that’s because they’re a well-coached team, and they’re physical, they’re going to stay in the game. I’m proud of my guys for staying solid at the end. Our free throws were a little low, but we made free throws when it mattered.”
In Feb. 14’s playoff-opening win, Westwood got off to a strong start against Northwestern in the first half and took a 26-13 lead into intermission.
The second half was largely the Redhawks trying to offset the clutch shooting of Mason Mitchell.
Mitchell, a 6-5 senior for the Trojans, keyed a second-half rally with five 3-pointers and 10 of his 12 rebounds on the night. Westwood never came close to losing its wire-to-wire lead in its 65-52 victory at The Castle, but Mitchell’s effort kept the Trojans in the game.
“In the second half we were able to find some paint touches, but we let him (Mitchell) get loose too much,” head coach Trent Robinson said. “After a while you’ve got to realize as a man that you can’t let him touch the ball. We’ve got to correct some defensive stuff.”
Westwood (21-2) was up 41-21 with 3:12 left in the third quarter when Mitchell got his first basket of the second half. Mitchell’s first 3 of the second half came just before the third-quarter buzzer.
The Redhawks were up 44-27 going into the fourth quarter, but Mitchell drained a 2-point basket and four more 3s by the games final two minutes.
Mitchell’s shooting would have distracted most teams, but Westwood took his effort in stride.
While Mitchell fired away from behind the 3-point lane, Redhawks ball handlers Bell, D’Marcus Thomas, Larry Brown, Dontae Walters, and others either drove into the lane unguarded for quick short-range buckets, or stayed under the net and put back rebounds.
Brown’s 3-pointer with more than a minute left gave Westwood a 65-47 lead, and Theron Young’s 3 and Mitchell’s basket in the final minute hardly mattered for the Trojans (11-16).
Bell, the SCBCA’s 4A Player of the Year, finished the night with 19 points and Larry Brown added 12 points to lead Westwood.
“The first round is always hard,” Robinson said. “I thought getting the pick of Northwestern was an unlucky pick. I knew what type of team they were and I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy first round.”
Feb. 14
Northwestern – 8-5-14-25 – 52
Westwood – 11-15-18-21 – 65
WHS: T.J. Bell 19, Larry Brown 12, Balkman 9, Thomas 9, Walters 8, Roberts 5, Z. Brown 3.
Feb. 17
South Florence – 9-8-18-24 – 59
Westwood – 15-13-15-17 – 60
WHS: T.J. Bell 33. Roberts 7, Thomas 7, Walters 6, Balkman 4, Brown 3.