BLYTHEWOOD – The last time the Westwood boys’ basketball team and A.C. Flora met, the Redhawks made a huge scoring run in the second half that put the game out of the Falcons’ reach by the fourth quarter.
On Friday night there was no such run. Instead, a string of three 3-pointers from Westwood with about four minutes left in the game put some distance on Flora and enabled the Redhawks to beat the Falcons a second time, 56-46.
“I challenged them at the end of the third quarter and said we need to (get a) stop and score, stop and score, stop and score. We get three stops, that’s a brick, and we did exactly that. They happened to be 3s, they were patient.”
Westwood (18-1, 7-0 Region 5-4A) led 27-18 at the half but A.C. Flora (16-5, 4-3) bested Westwood 11-10 in the third quarter and eventually got within 41-33 of the Redhawks early in the fourth quarter. The Falcons looked to get a run going and were more than capable of pulling it off.
That is, until Zion Brown drained his first 3 of the game with about four minutes to go. After a Redhawks defensive stop seconds later, Brown found himself behind the arc, squared up and delivered a second 3 to make it 47-33.
Cooper Wiley drew a foul and sank one of two foul shots to make it 47-34, but Bell drained a 3 and drew a foul. He missed the foul shot but put Westwood up 50-34 with 3:33 left.
“Zion Brown, he’s not one of our three-point shooters but he can hit the shot so he caught it, squared up, hit both of them,” Robinson said. “and then Tavaris (Bell) went out there, sometimes when he gets the ball you just hold your breath, and then you look and you thank God almighty that he really hit that.”
A Nate Thompson basket capped the small burst and put the Redhawks up 52-34. From there the Westwood defense gave up 12 points, but a basket from Dontae Walters and free throws from T.K. Roberts secured the double-digit victory.
“I always tell the guys we have a run coming, so we’ve just got to handle our emotions until our run shows up,” he said. “Keep playing solid defense, don’t feel like we’ve got to do anything spectacular.”
Bell finished the night with 20 points. Brown had 14 points and Walters scored 12.
Wiley scored 14 points and Will Willard added 11 for A.C. Flora.
Friday night was also the school’s Breast Cancer Awareness game. The team, coaches, and fans wore pink shirts in recognition of Westwood supporters who are battling breast cancer.
“The last two games have been rough,” Robinson said, noting the team’s 50-39 win over Irmo Jan. 19 and 60-52 win over Ridge View Jan. 23. “In practice we had to change the intensity, but tonight they came out really with a different mindset. This one makes me proud, probably our best one of the year, just because of what it was about and what our guys understood.”
Robinson added, “I challenged the guys in the locker room. I said that when we get down or mad, think about the life that they’re going through and they’re here supporting you every day. None of our problems in basketball are anywhere near the problems that they’re going through.”
The Redhawks beat Lugoff-Elgin 65-45 Tuesday night, with Bell scoring 17 points and making five rebounds, five assists, and five steals. Roberts had 14 points, Walters had 11 and D’Marcus Thomas had 10 points. Westwood faces Ridge View again Friday at home in what will likely be a matchup that deter-mines the Region 5-4A championship.
The Blazers (20-1, 6-1) were ranked No.1 in the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association 4A Top 10 poll when Westwood, ranked No.2, held off a late rally to win 66-64 at Ridge View Jan. 17.
In the girls game Friday, Westwood (15-8, 4-3) rallied in the second quarter to tie the game at 22 by halftime.
A.C. Flora (17-6, 6-1) retook the lead for good late in the third quarter, led 38-31 going into the fourth quarter, and closed out a 55-40 win.
Makiah Thompson led Westwood with 14 points.
Terriana Gray scored 20 points, and Skylar McCray and Tamira Delaney each had 10 points to lead A.C. Flora.
The Westwood girls beat Lugoff-Elgin 69-50 Tuesday night. Thompson scored 25 points, Si’Niya Curry and Destiny Omeire added 15 points apiece.
Boys
A.C. Flora – 11-7-11-17 — 46
Westwood – 18-9-10-18 — 56
A.C. Flora
Cooper Wiley 14, Will Willard 11, Gray 6, Johnson 5, Murray 4, Maxwell 3, West 2.
Westwood
T.J. Bell 20, Zion Brown 14, Dontae Walters 12, Roberts 5, L. Brown 3, R. Brown 2, Thompson 2.
Girls
A.C. Flora – 18-4-16-17 — 55
Westwood – 14-8-9-9 — 40
A.C. Flora
Terriana Gray 20, Skylar McCray 10, Tamira Delaney 10, Mason 8, Curnell 4, Campbell 2, McDonald-Craft 1.
Westwood
Makiah Thompson 14, Britt 9, Entzminger 4, Cummings 4, Curry 4, Omeire 2, Clarke 2, Davis 1.