Blythewood’s Jasrial Thompson (10) muscles her way into the paint and into Westwood’s Diamond Harling. (Photo/Kristy Kimball Massey)
BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood girls’ basketball team handed the Redhawks a defeat in a game that was close all the way. At the buzzer, the final score stood at 39-30, Blythewood.
Westwood head coach Greg Bauldrick was looking forward to the “Battle of the Woods” contest, saying, “We are excited about playing them. We have had a good week of practice and we think we have a good game plan. Kayla Atkins has averaged a double-double for the last two games, and we hope she can do it again tonight. The key to the game is good solid defense, control of the ball and control of the game. We are going to throw the kitchen sink at them and see what happens.”
Westwood had their best quarter in the first quarter, scoring 12 points, 6 of which were courtesy of Atkins. Blythewood was held to just 8 points, 6 of which came from Blythewood’s long-ball hitter, Jasrial Thompson.
In the second quarter, Westwood only was able to score one basket, which was by Mikeya Matthews. Blythewood scored 8 points to take the lead. Lauren Harley hit a basket, and the remaining 6 points came from free throws. At the end, the score remained close with Blythewood leading 16-14.
Like the second quarter, the third was marked with defensive play. The Westwood zone defense kept the Bengals from the inside, and the shooting had to come from the outside. The Lady Bengals only hit two goals, but both were for 3 points each, one by Thompson and one from Harley. Westwood scored only one 2-pointer, the remainder of their scoring coming from free-throws. The quarter ended with the scoreboard showing 22-19, Blythewood.
The final period was all Harley, as she sunk four baskets and went four-for-four on free throws. She was the game’s high scorer with 15 points. Five different Lady Redhawks scored field goals in the last quarter, but it was not enough to close the gap to Harley and company. The final buzzer had the Redhawks 9 points down to Blythewood, 39-30.
