Westwood’s Kayla Atkins finishes the fast break. (Photo/Ross Burton)
LEXINGTON – The Westwood girls’ varsity basketball team travelled to Lexington to take on the River Bluff High School Gators. The Redhawks triumphed over the Gators, scoring a much-needed win, 64-45.
“We lost two guards to illness and injury,” Westwood head coach Christeen Hagood said before the game. “We are down to seven players on the bench. In our games so far this season, we play well in the third and fourth quarters. We need to find out why we can’t get out there in the first quarter and play four quarters of basketball. We find ourselves in a hole at halftime and can’t get out. It’s hard to do with only seven players.”
The Lady Redhawks have often started their games slowly, picking up momentum as the game went on. Much of the time, the early deficit would be their undoing. In tonight’s game, however, the Westwood girls kept the pace high and outscored the Gators 10-9 in the first period of play.
In the second period, Westwood came on strong. The team scored 18 points to River Bluff’s seven. Taylor Toney hit two three-pointers for the Lady Redhawks, and Redhawk players hit four out of seven from the free-throw line. Westwood’s shooting in the second period was exceptionally good, even from the outside. River Bluff at one point clawed their way back to within seven points, but the halftime score was 39-20 in favor of Westwood.
In the third period, Westwood held the Gators to only four points. Westwood chalked up 11, with Taylor Toney hitting another basket for three. In the final period, River Bluff actually outscored Westwood by three points. All of River Bluff’s field goals in the final period were sunk by Daysia Grady, who was the team’s high scorer with 17 points. Westwood’s Toney was the game’s high scorer with 21 points.
Late in the final period, the Gators pulled to within 10 points with time left on the clock. It wasn’t a done deal until the final minutes, when Westwood pulled out the win.
The Redhawks will host Chapin High on Friday night at 6 p.m.
