Fairfield Central’s Cristin Gray fights for possession with Lady Redhawks Kourtney Houston (33) and Nyah Leveretter (21). (Photo/Joe Seibles)
WINNSBORO (Jan. 4, 2017) – The Westwood girls went up quickly at Fairfield Central Tuesday night, but this game would not shape out to be like the previous matchup.
In their Nov. 30 game, the Redhawks blew past the Griffins 62-35. On Tuesday night Westwood held off a feisty Fairfield Central team 49-39.
“I thought it was a dangerous game to play just because of where we were at,” Westwood head coach Gregory Bauldrick said, noting Wednesday’s non-region game against Spring Valley and the region opener with Richland Northeast Friday.
“We’re coming off the holidays, and it’s a team we’ve beat by 30 points,” he added. “I felt they’d be kind of looking past this one, and they were.”
Westwood (9-2) went up 13-3 by the end of the first quarter and built up a 29-15 advantage by the half.
Fairfield Central (1-8) scored the first seven points of the third quarter to close the gap to 29-22. The Griffins were within 10 points of the Redhawks until Maliyah Lockett burst through the paint with a hook shot at the 1:55 mark of the third and Diamond Harring got a put-back with 40 seconds left in the quarter.
With Westwood up 38-24 to start the fourth quarter, the Griffins tried to whittle the lead down, but the Redhawks stayed a few shots ahead to close the game with a win.
Mya Belton led the way for Westwood with 17 points. Lockett finished the night with 14 points.
“We’ll take the win and focus on Spring Valley and the region,” Bauldrick said. “We just had a lack of focus tonight. We’ll see if they’re ready to play tomorrow.”
Jameka Henderson led the Griffins with 14 points. Jamaria Sampson had 10.
Westwood 49, Fairfield Central 39
WHS: 13-16-9-11 – 49
FC: 3-12-9-15 – 39
Westwood
Mya Belton 17, Maliyah Lockett 14, Leverette 9, Drake 7, Harling 2.
Fairfield Central
Jameka Henderson 14, Jamaria Sampson 10, Woodard 7, Ruff 3, Gray 3, Cooper 2.
