GISA 2-AAA tournament
With no field goals in overtime, Westfield’s girls basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 61-54 decision to Tattnall Square Academy Thursday in the semifinals of the GISA Region 2-AAA tournament. This year’s championship was decided at the Mt. de Sales McAuley Hall in Macon, and these two rivals – meeting for perhaps the final time – got the day going with a true classic.
The game was even, 39-39, after the third quarter, and Westfield put forth a defensive effort that kept up with the Lady Trojans, made each and every pass and shot a challenge, and often led to easy offense. Even when Tattnall Square center Kendra Green began the fourth with a put-back, Westfield streaked ahead with a 7-0 run using two steals by Katelyn Moseley and her own 3-pointer.
It took both teams about a half to get the outside shooting going in this 4 p.m. start with natural lighting still seeping into the gym.
When Westfield went on this spurt, Green was on the bench with her fourth personal foul. Moseley stole the basketball four times alone in this final quarter, six in the game. Her takeaways made it possible for both Gracie Duggan and Whitley Young to each put in a basket, and the Lady Hornets were in charge 50-46.
But when the shots stopped falling for coach Brittany Conley’s side, Tattnall Square’s aggressiveness picked up. On the Lady Trojan side, not only did Green foul out with 2:19 in regulation, she suffered a knee injury on the play. It was one started by her block on defense when Westfield miraculously recovered a loose ball. Westfield’s quickness led to several such plays going its way, but it was offense it would lack.
At 1:02, Tattnall Square followed in a miss in transition to tie the game. It had 47 seconds looking for a winning shot, but threw the ball away to Moseley.
Foul shooting was near perfect for Westfield, and Chelsea Whaley’s makes put it at 52-50. Jordan Allen, though, drove baseline for two tying points at the 27-second mark. The Lady Trojans also missed a game-winning shot with five seconds to go.
Westfield’s free throws didn’t take in overtime, and Tattnall Square knocked in two field goals for a 56-52 lead.
For the first half, Westfield’s hands and reach were so effective that there were three shots by Tattnall Square blocked in the opening quarter and four steals. The Lady Trojans were able to make two good passes inside for layups, and with a three-point play in transition they had it 11-6 at 1:02. At the quarter’s end, the Lady Hornets trailed 11-8, the last six points on free throws.
Tattnall Square staked a seven-point second quarter advantage with Allen going baseline. It was 15-8 when Duggan, using one of the five steals by her team in this new period, helped get the margin down to three. The first made 3-pointer of the game belonged to Tattnall Square’s Elizabeth Wainwright at 4:28 (18-12). But in a momentum swing, Whaley assisted 2 for Unique Tuberville to close the gap down to two, 18-16.
Westfield’s hustle in this quarter saw Callie Hammerle in a half-court scramble, and Tattnall Square’s player threw the basketball behind her to anyone. That happened to be Duggan. Whaley’s pressure also caused her opponent to slip and turn the ball over.
But Westfield had one missed lay-in after a takeaway, which allowed the Lady Trojans to go back up four. It was 22-18 when the Lady Hornets ended the half with six unanswered. Green was not playing the last 4:02 with three fouls (two charges). Hammerle cashed in Moseley’s pass running off a takeaway, and then they sunk more foul shots to lead 24-22 at the half.
For the third quarter, Westfield went to the post for baskets by Tuberville and Whaley. Tattnall Square also blew an open lay-up with the Lady Hornets streaking to the other end. Westfield’s largest lead was six, 32-26, when things fell apart and Tattnall Square began controlling their own offensive glass. Two put-backs and one trey highlighted an 11-0 run for 37-32.
The Lady Hornets had plenty of time to recover, and with 58 seconds on the quarter clock Moseley connected on her team’s first 3-ball. For the last 39 seconds, it was turnover here, turnover there, turnover one time before Moseley was fouled at the buzzer. Her foul shooting made it the 39-39 tie.
MDS TOPS WS BOYS
Mt. de Sales’ Cavaliers, on their home court, didn’t score for the first six minutes plus of the second half of Thursday’s region semifinals with the Westfield boys. But in the last 1:25 of the third quarter, the hosts strung together nine in a row and never looked back.
It was the fourth meeting all season between these two clubs, and MDS leveled the series by winning 61-49.
Center William Amos had 19 points and 14 rebounds for Westfield.
The Cavaliers didn’t even score consistently in the first quarter, and Jake Walls’ Hornets had them down 9-4 on Griffin Elmore’s corner 3-pointer. Ryan Fitzpatrick penetrated for an assist to Cam Forrester, and that was Westfield’s last scoring when the Cavs found a way to put in two late field goals and snatch the lead, 12-11, going into the second.
John Bard, emerging as a Hornet scoring threat this season, started that second with a 3-ball only to see Darius Wonnum of MDS sink two in a row. There were five lead changes in the period and four tied scores. Fitzpatrick put back his own miss for 22-20 Westfield, but the hosts responded with an 8-0 run, turnover points capping it off with 51 seconds on the clock. Fitzpatrick ended the streak and took the game into overtime, his side down 28-24.
It took 35 seconds for the Hornets to tie the game in the third quarter. Amos, with a great cut into the lane for a pass, helped get the lead to four, 32-28. That’s when the game became all Cavs, the score tied on a put-back with 1:12 left. Kweisi Stanley, maneuvering his hands around the defense while in mid-air, unleashed a buzzer-beating 3 for 37-32.
Mt. de Sales had no trouble scoring in the fourth quarter, going up 41-34 on its first two possessions. Westfield was as close as three, 41-38, but in five minutes the hosts added 18 points to its total. At 3:15, the margin reached double figures at 53-42.
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