Photo: Westbrook Christian’s Avery Snead (left) looks for an open teammate as West End’s Kennedi Nix defends during the Lady Warriors’ 39-35 victory in girls basketball on Tuesday, Nov. 19 in Walnut Grove. (Chris McCarthy/Messenger)
By Chris McCarthy, Publisher
It took evey one of the 32 minutes of game clock before Westbrook Christian finally put away a persistent West End team in a 39-35 victory in girls basketball on Tuesday, Nov. 19 in Walnut Grove.
With the Lady Warriors leading by three points with 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Raylee Neal knocked down a free throw to make it a two-possession game. The Lady Patriots’ last-second three-point attempt was off the mark, allowing the Westbrook fans to take a deep breath.
“We struggled to get going offensively today, and I credit a lot of that to [West End’s] zone [defense],” said Westbrook head coach Jeremy Brooks. “I felt at a couple of points when our press was working and we got a few steals and hit a few 3’s that might create a little bit of a gap, but we just couldn’t get over the hump until the end.”
The Lady Warriors’ largest lead of the second half came at the midway point of the fourth quarter when Neal’s three-point basket made it 38-32. But that turned out to be Westbrook’s final field goal of the game.
Kennedi Nix’s foul shot at 2:40 and her steal and resulting layup with 47 seconds remaining drew the Lady Patriots within 38-35. West End fouled in order to regain possession but missed a pair of free throws, and Neal’s foul shot in the closing seconds gave the Lady Warriors some breathing room.
Neal paced Westbrook with 13 points, followed by Jordan Brooks and Avery Snead with seven each and Caroline Taylor with six.
Both team’s offenses started out slow, with West End entering the second quarter ahead 2-1. The Lady Patriots put together an 11-3 run during the second period, but West End went scoreless over the three minutes and 29 seconds of the first half. In the meantime, the Lady Warriors finished off the half with a 9-0 run that tied the game at 13-13.
West End stayed within three points during the third quarter and eventually tied the game at 22-22 on a basket by Daleigha Wheeler with less than a minute to go. Two free throws by Nix closed the gap to 25-24 entering the fourth period.
A jump shot by Bella Falkner forced a 27-27 tie early in the fourth quarter before Brooks canned a pair of three-point baskets to give Westbrook the lead for good.
Nix finished with a double-doble of 18 points for West End, while Makinna Garab added six.
“I thought we played extremely well on defense, but we’ve got to get our offense to be more consistent and we’ve got to shoot better from the [free throw] line,” said West End head coach Kyke Mayo. “But I’m very proud of where we are at after two games. We’ve just got to keep working and getting better.”
