Local Sports
Westwood Lady Panther keep slim playoff hopes alive
PALESTINE — By SCOTT TYLER
Sports Editor
With a second-half comeback, the Westwood Lady Panthers kept their slim playoff hopes alive.
Westwood rallied from a 14-point second half deficit and Sierra Henry’s free throw with seven seconds left gave the Lady Panthers a 57-56 win over Crockett Tuesday night at Westwood Gymnasium.
Westwood improves to 3-5 in district and still has a hope to make the playoffs but have to win out against Fairfield and Palestine and hope for some help against other district teams.
Henry scored a game-high 19 points including making one of two free throws with seven seconds left to break a tie. Crockett had one last desperation shot to win the game, but it was long.
Along with Henry, Westwood had three others in double digits — Jessica Blair scored 11 points and Desiree Brown and Kalen Blair each had 10 points.
Westwood trailed by as many as 14 points midway through the third quarter but used a 14-0 run to tie the game. During the run, Westwood scored seven points in a span of 36 seconds to tie the game at 38-38.
All seven points cam after a steal as Brown had four straight points and Henry had a bucket off steals. Kalen Blair tied the game after she was fouled following another steal.
The Westwood run turned the game into a hectic fourth quarter as the lead did not get to more than three points by either team.
Kalen Blair kept Westwood close at the start of the fourth quarter by scoring the Lady Panthers first six points.
After following a strange melee that included a foul by Westwood, an intentional foul on Crockett and then a technical foul on Westwood, out of the five free throw taken, only one was made — a free throw by Westwood to take a 49-48 lead.
Westwood led by three points after a Henry basket but Crockett scored seven of the next nine points to take a 55-52 lead with just over two minutes left.
Westwood tied the game when Henry went coast-to-coast on a defensive rebound for a layup with 1:16 to play. The following mite saw Crockett turn the ball over two times and Westwood turning it over twice, giving the Lady Bulldogs possession with 16 seconds left.
But Henry forced another turnover, picking off a pass giving Westwood the ball back. The Lady Panthers worked the ball into Henry, who got fouled on the shot, setting up the game winning free throw.
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Scott Tyler may be contacted via e-mail at styler@palestineherald.com
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