Westwood’s Karen Medina shoots a free throw on Thursday night against HUntland
Closing out the regular season with momentum was the goal for the Rockets and Lady Rocket basketball teams on Thursday night as Huntland visited the Joel Vinson Gym at Westwood on Thursday night. In the girls game, the Hornets opened up an 8 point lead in the second quarter before the Lady Rockets closed the half out with a furious rally to trail by one at the half. That momentum carried over into the 2nd half as Westwood carried a 10 point lead into the 4th quarter. Huntland cut the deficit to 3 points after Karen Medina fouled out for Westwood, but the Lady Rockets hit their free throws down the stretch to get the 44 to 38 win to even their record at 9 and 9 on the season. Ashley Starks led Westwood with 14 points while Morgan Jones added 13 points and Medina finished with 11. The win gave Westwood a 5th place finish in the conference and will set up a rematch with Huntland in the first round of the conference tournament on Wednesday night at Forrest. The game will tip off at 4:00 PM.
Westwood basketball player Chase Simpkins
The Rockets struggled through a cold shooting first half to limp into the half trailing 18 to 12. Whatever magic Coach Will Perkins cooked up in the locker room worked as Westwood scored the first 7 points of the second half to give the Rockets a 19 to 18 lead with 4:10 left in the 3rd quarter on a 13 foot jumper from Chase Simpkins. The two teams entered the 4th quarter tied at 26 as the teams traded the lead until the 2:40 mark of the 4th quarter when Jake Hollandsworth nailed a 3 pointer to put Westwood on top for good. Huntland got an open look on a 3 pointer at the buzzer that bounced off the front rim to give Westwood the 34 to 32 win. Simpkins led Westwood in scoring with 13 points, while Hollandsworth added 12 points. Marcus Pendleton finished the night with 11 points, including 7 points in the critical 3rd quarter comeback. With the win, Westwood improved to 6 and 12 on the year and will begin DRVC tournament play on Saturday as they take on Huntland. The Rockets game will tip off at 4:45 PM and will be played at Forrest.
