BLYTHEWOOD – Maybe it was something in the space of the 10 days since the Blythewood and Westwood boys last met. Maybe the Redhawks just really get energized when they play in their home court of The Castle.
Whatever the case, Westwood burst out of the locker room in the second half and put a 67-54 hurting on the Bengals Friday night.
“We truly felt like the other game was our game to give, and we gave it,” Westwood head coach Trent Robinson said. “Uncharacteristic turnovers, missed free throws, we let them beat us up at the end.”
Robinson said the last week has helped the team clean up those mistakes. The Redhawks posted victories over Spring Valley, Chapin and White Knoll before rematching with the Bengals Friday.
“We truly believe that we’re a really good team and we have really good guards,” Robinson said. “We needed those three games to get our guards ready, and Larry Brown our backup guard came off the bench and gave me that point guard role that I needed from him and my sophomore D’Marcus Thomas.”
Robinson also praised the play of his starting guard, senior Tavaris Bell, who had 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists on the night.
“He’s overlooked a lot,” Robinson said. “He has one offer from Dean College and we’re hoping to get more. He took an unofficial visit to Mars Hill, (head coach) Larry Davis loves him. He’s staying mentally focused. He’s just playing, and he isn’t worrying about the offers. That’s why I believe they’ll come to him.”
Zion Brown provided the presence around the goal for the Redhawks, scoring a game-high 19 points and coming down with 12 rebounds.
It was a much different game than Blythewood’s 54-52 win in overtime Dec. 5. In that game neither team got more than four points away from one another.
In the second quarter Friday, the Redhawks (9-1) went on a 9-2 scoring run that gave them a 22-14 lead over their rivals down Wilson Boulevard. They held that advantage with Zion Brown’s putback at the second-quarter buzzer that gave them a 30-23 lead over the Bengals at halftime.
When action fired up again for the third quarter, it was almost all Redhawks. For the first six minutes of the third Westwood went on a 19-2 run that featured seven points and seven rebounds from Brown, in addition to baskets from T.K. Roberts, Bell, and Mike Balkman.
“I try to play 11 every game, and that last group (of bench players) started it in the second quarter,” Robinson said. “The seniors started the third quarter and they’d seen the guys who brought the energy behind them and they had an explosive third quarter.”
That run put the Redhawks up 49-25. Blythewood tried to claw back into the game in the final two minutes of the third, but still trailed 52-30 going into the fourth quarter.
The Bengals (5-3) got seven points from Austin Coker, Taurus Lewis Jr., and Will Olden to start the fourth. That miniburst cut the lead to 52-37, but down the stretch Westwood kept pace with Blythewood and closed out the 13-point win.
Coker led Blythewood with 20 points. Lewis added 14 points and Kishan Chung had 11 points for the Bengals.
In the girls game, Blythewood (3-4) overcame an early deficit to lead Westwood 25-21 at the half, but the Redhawks (8-4) eventually caught up with the Bengals and closed out a 49-41 victory.
“We knew they would come out swinging. They’re a very good ball team, young talent. They’re finding their way. They’re going to be a special team,” Redhawks head coach Gregory Bauldrick said of the Bengals. As for this season’s Redhawks, “We’ve got a young special group that kind of reminds me of this team (Blythewood) last year. I like to think that we’re so young this year that we’re playing with house money. If we lose, we’re young. But we’re not doing a whole lot of losing.”
Senior Makiah Thompson led Westwood with 24 points. Sophomore Si’Niya Curry added 10 points.
Sophomores Chase Thomas and India Williams led the Bengals, with Thomas putting up 14 points and Williams contributing 12.
Having Thompson, along with junior Destiny Omeire as leaders
“They kind of settle the waters a little bit,” Bauldrick said of the two. “They use the term ‘trust the system, trust the process.’ Even though the game was much closer, the things that were not happening for us were all controllable by us. … Just mental mistakes. Once we did that, I thought we got into what our brand of basketball is all about.”
On Monday, the Blythewood girls fell 74-31 at South Pointe, while the boys came from behind to beat the Stallions 53-52.
All four teams head for holiday tournaments this week.
The Blythewood boys head for the Lemon Street Classic in Marietta, Ga., while the girls head to the Y.C. Winborn Showcase in Rock Hill. Both events tip off today, with the boys taking on McDonough, Ga., and the girls playing Spartanburg.
The Blythewood boys will also take part in a post-Christmas tournament in Greenville, the Poinsettia Classic. There, they open the tournament against Mauldin in the Carolina Bracket.
The Westwood boys head to the PSB Charleston Showcase hosted by Goose Creek, while the girls head to the Battle of I-20 Tournament in Augusta. The girls played Laney of Augusta Wednesday, while the boys take on Lucy Beckham today.
After the winter break on Jan. 5, Blythewood plays host to White Knoll and Westwood opens Region 5-4A play at A.C. Flora.
Boys
Blythewood – 10-13-7-24 — 54
Westwood – 11-19-22-15 — 67
Blythewood
Austin Coker 20, T.J. Lewis 14, Kishan Chung 11, Mazyck 4, Jones 3, Stephens 2.
Westwood
Zion Brown 19, Tavaris Bell 14, Walters 9, Thomas 7, Brown 7, Balkman 6, Roberts 3, Thompson 2.
Girls
Blythewood – 11-14-10-6 — 41
Westwood – 15-6-15-13 — 49
Blythewood
Chase Thomas 14, India Williams 12, Brown 9, Hightower 4, Fluker 2
Westwood
Makiah Thompson 24, Si’Niya Curry 10, Britt 6, Omeire 5, Davis 4.
