Westwood girls coast to their fourth semifinal in six years

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLIANA – What appeared to be a close game for a spot in the girls SCHSL 4A semifinal quickly turned into a blow out after Westwood held James Island to two points in the first 13 minutes of the second half.

The Redhawks rode this performance to their fourth state semifinal appearance in six years after beating the Trojans, Tuesday, 62-34.

“It definitely feels good, but you know we've seen this before,” said Redhawk head coach Gregory Bauldrick. “We've been in this position, so we are just thankful but humble.”

Westwood exploded on offense and defense in the second half to bury James Island. Three Westwood players scored double-figures to lead an overall balanced scoring effort.

Guard Makiah Thompson led the team with 18 points. Campbell university commit guard Jessica Woods scored 14 points and forward Raven Johnson had 13 points.

Only four players scored for James Island. Guard Andrea Duncan scored 22 of the team’s 34 points. Guards Alaina and Tiana Graf each scored five points and Forward Reagan Wheatley had two points.

The game started close. After one quarter Westwood led by just a point.

“Out the gate, we knew they were a well coached, very disciplined team,” Bauldrick said. “Unless we made them uncomfortable, they weren't going to be uncomfortable.”

The Redhawks made them uncomfortable in the second quarter. They started the period on a 5-0 run by forcing bad passes that led to quick buckets.

James Island adjusted as the quarter went on and only trailed by 11 going into halftime. From this point on, the game was one-sided.

Ninety seconds into the quarter, Westwood was already on a 10-0 scoring run, forcing a quick Trojan timeout.

James Island snapped the run three minutes into the quarter, but the team now trailed by 21.

That basket was the last the Trojans would hit in the quarter. With two minutes to go in the quarter, Westwood was up 27. The Redhawks were up 30 heading into the fourth quarter.

“Historically, for whatever reasons, our third quarter defense throughout the season has been our strongest quarter,” Bauldrick said. “Most teams score less than 10 points, and majority of them less than five…so we were just who we are.”

Westwood outscored James Island 21-2 in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter continued to be one sided despite Westwoods’ offense cooling down from the previous quarter.

The Redhawks started the fourth on an 6-0 scoring run. Both offenses went cold for a few minutes before Westwood extended its run to 8-0.

The Trojans second basket in the second half came with three minutes left in the game. By then the team trailed by 38.

That basket broke the lid and James Island ended the game scoring 12 more points. But all that could do for theTrojans was cut the deficit under 30.

James Island finished the season (18-11) overall and (7-3) in its region.

Westwood sits at (25-4) overall and advances to the lower state final Friday where it will face off against region rival A.C Flora.

“It's going to be tough, but everybody who's playing now is gonna be tough, region or not,” Bauldrick said “We'll just prepare for whoever comes out.