MURRELLS INLET – The postseason has been quick and fruitful for the Westwood boys basketball team.
With a No.3 seeding in the lower state bracket of the 5A Division 2 playoffs, the Redhawks had a first-round bye and routed No.6 Conway 73-36 Friday night in the second round, then headed to Murrells Inlet Monday night to take on No. 2 St. James.
Against the Sharks, D’Marcus Thomas had 21 points and five assists, Daytron Cockfield had 12 points and four rebounds, Cylan McLeod had 10 points and Jayden Crews had eight points and eight boards in the Redhawks 60-57 third-round victory.
The win propels Westwood (23-3) into the semifinal round for the first time in team history. The Redhawks face No. 1 Goose Creek (26-2), 71-66 winners over Irmo Monday night, for the 5A Division 2 Upper State championship at the Florence Center Friday night at 8 p.m.
Against No.6 Conway Friday, the Tigers (12-14) led 20-17 after the first quarter, but the Redhawks held them to four points in the second quarter and led 31-24 at the half.
Westwood took a 51-40 lead into the fourth quarter, where it outscored Conway 22-6.
Redhawks head coach Trent Robinson said Friday night that the team responded well on the court after a week-long layover from the team’s regular season finale Feb. 13, a 73-71 loss at Sumter.
“I was worried for a good reason. I hate having byes, but we’ve just got to be ready to play,” Robinson said. “It was good that we made a push and we had some good runs. We’ve got to realize that we’ve got to get going and play fast, but we’ve got to realize that we’ve got to get stops at the same time.”
Crews was the go-to scorer for the Redhawks Friday night, leading the way with 27 points, including six 3-pointers. Thomas had 15 points and Cockfield put up 11.
“Every day we came ready to practice. We’ve always had the mentality of every practice has got to be strong. We have to be locked into everything,” Crews said. On Friday night “my teammates really helped me, driving and hitting me in the corner (for 3 attempts). I didn’t really do anything, I was just catching and shooting.”
The big break for Coach Robinson was seeing his team’s 18-0 run in the middle of the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Conway sank two baskets to cut Westwood’s lead to 51-44 with six minutes to go, but the scoring run over the next five minutes gave the Redhawks a 69-44 lead with 1:15 left.
Besides Crews, Thomas, and Cockfield, Westwood’s backcourt rotation of Jaylen Donaldson, Ariel Huell, and A.J. Veal, among others, stepped up late in the game.
“The big difference in the second half was we put Big Jaylen (Donaldson) in, and he really craved the paint and won some free throws,” Robinson said. “That’s why we play a three-big rotation where all three of our bigs get something different.”
Crews and Thomas were both selected to 5A All-State team. Crews, the team’s leading scorer with a 14.2-point and 6.3 rebound average, signed with Converse University. Thomas, who averages 13.1 points and recently scored his 1,000th career point signed with Southern Wesleyan University.
Conway – 20-4-16-6 — 46
Westwood – 17-14-22-20 — 73
Conway
Jordan Jenkins 15, Tramaine Hunter 11, Trevon Johnson 11, Linen 9.
Westwood
Jayden Crews 27, D’Marcus Thomas 15, Daytron Cockfield 11, McLeod 8, Donaldson 8, Hudson 2, Omeire 2.
WESTWOOD – 10-13-18-19 – 60
ST JAMES – 10-15-14-18 – 57
WESTWOOD
D’Marcus Thomas 21, Daytron Cockfield 12, Cylan McLeod 10, Jayden Crews 8
ST JAMES
Elijah Coles 15, Kingston Coles 14, Tony Young 12
