When A.C. Flora escaped with a 46-45 win over Ridge View Friday night, the tiebreaker between the first-place Blazers and second-place Westwood went out the window.
With the Blazers’ loss in the books minutes before Westwood and Richland Northeast went into overtime, all the Redhawks needed to do was come out the winner in the four-minute extra-time period.
They did, winning 52-49 and thereby clinching their first outright Region 5-4A championship.
Zion Brown led Westwood (20-2, 9-1) with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Tavaris Bell had 11 points.
Westwood, which shared the SC Basketball Coaches Association’s Class 4A No.1 ranking with Ridge View throughout the season, finished atop the standings. Ridge View took second, A.C. Flora third, Richland Northeast fourth, Irmo fifth, and Lugoff-Elgin sixth.
With the regular season in the books, Bell was named the Region 5-4A Player of the Year an honor he shares with Westwood Alumnus Russell Jones Jr., who now plays at Western Carolina. Bell also recently joined the 1,000 point club, joining Jones and Arden Conyers, who now plays for South Carolina.
Head coach Trent Robinson was named the Coach of the Year.
Brown, T.K. Roberts, and Dontae Walters were also named to the Region 5-4A Boys Team.
The Westwood boys played host to at-large opponent Northwestern in the first round of the playoffs Wednesday. If the Redhawks win, they play host to Wednesday’s May River at South Florence matchup Saturday.
In the girls game Friday, Makiah Thompson scored her 1,000th point in Westwood’s 44-33 victory over Richland Northeast. Thompson finished the night with 20 points. Morgan Williams had 12 points.
Westwood (17-9, 6-4) finished third in the region standings, behind champion Ridge View and second-place A.C. Flora.
Thompson and Aniya Britt both made the Region 5-4A All-Region Team.
The Redhawks played at James Island in the first round of the 4A playoffs Tuesday. If they win, they play at the winner of Tuesday’s May River-Wilson matchup on Friday.
