Lady Hornets stun Arlington; Boys team rallies in win

If only it could have been nine months earlier.

Facing a defending GISA champion for the second time in

November, Westfield’s girls basketball team did something that does not happen

too many times in the span of a decade. On Friday, Cass Cassell and the Lady

Hornets defeated Arlington Christian as a visiting team in the Lilburn gym

58-54.

“It was an early-season game where the competition was

really good, and that’s what we want to play,” said Cassell after Saturday

afternoon’s home victory, 65-31, against Windsor Academy. “We got off to a

great start (led 34-23 at halftime) and held on to win.”

Arlington defeated Westfield in the 2011-12 AAA championship

game in Milledgeville in late February. When that game ended, Cassell lost four

senior starters. When the new schedule came out, it showed an opening game with

Crisp Academy, the Class A champions, on Nov. 19 at Stratford’s Tip-Off

Tournament.

That game was a struggle for Westfield and the four new

starters – all of whom played major roles on the state finalist club – with

Crisp winning 44-36. Eleven days and a Thanksgiving holiday later …

“We’ve really improved since that game,” said Cassell.

“That’s what we want to do every game. We’re trying to stay focused on that.

“We shot the ball real well from 2. We were able to handle

(Arlington’s) pressure for the most part early and did well enough on the

rebounding part.”

Forward Sydney Ledford had 15 of her 22 points in the first

half. From that 2-point range, she made eight baskets while making 6-of-8 at

the foul line.

“I was really tickled with what she did,” said Cassell. “I

was happy with the way we were able to feed her the ball. She was hot, we got

her the ball, and she was scoring. She was going to the glass, too.”

Ledford also had 11 rebounds, four assists and four shot

blocks.

McKinley Walton had 10 points, five rebounds and four

assists. Valerie McLure, that one returning starter, had six assists. Katelyn

Moseley put in nine points.

The Lady Hornets returned home close to midnight, but there

wasn’t much rest time for the noon start with Windsor. Cassell let his starters

go the first period, which ended with a 32-8 score. Westfield only had 33

afterwards, but Windsor never matched that first-period output.

McLure scored all 15 of her points in that quarter. Ledford

also had a 15-point game, doing most of her damage in the third quarter. Callie

Hammerle scored 14 with four assists, and Moseley canned 12.

“We were going to Valerie because she was so hot in the

first quarter,” said Cassell. “We have six kids who can score. If somebody’s

off, we have five others to pick up the slack. I was glad to see all of them

get some scoring in (Saturday).”

Chelsea Whaley, the ‘sixth-man,’ had seven points.

McLure’s first-quarter highlights Saturday include one

3-pointer, one stick-back and converting steals made by Moseley and Hammerle.

Ledford also stole an inbound pass at mid-court and took it in.

Morgan James played for McLure in the second quarter and

made an block-to-block assist to Moseley. Whaley had her team’s final three of

the half, which ended at 45-20. Windsor didn’t hit from the floor in the second

half until 1:49 as the hosts had nine third-quarter steals.

“We have just gotten together everybody at one time when we

started basketball practice,” said Cassell. “(Moseley) was recovering from knee

surgery this summer. We had people miss for this reason or that this summer. We

had a lot of illness.”

The ‘next level’ then for the Lady Hornets is to be the

winner of the GISA finals, which this year moves from Georgia College &

State to Mercer University. It should also be remembered that Westfield fell short

in the region tournament championship game last season against

Deerfield-Windsor. This time around, though, the region competition is from the

Macon schools, like Ivy Slaughter and Tattnall Square.

“Anyone in our region could be in the Final Four,” said

Cassell. “That’s how good it is. It’s going to be a dogfight every night.”

 

HORNET

BOYS

Basketball season is now beginning for the Westfield boys

with the conclusion of football. After a rough start at Arlington Friday, the

Hornets and head coach Jake Walls battled back Saturday to win 48-38 at home

over Windsor.

In the first quarter, Windsor went on an 11-0 run capped off

by a three-point play. During that stretch the Hornets had two offensive fouls.

Giles Amos, a freshman off Walls’ bench, worked big on the

offensive boards and blocked a shot in the final 10 seconds. Starter Tanner

Westbrook contributed a key steal, and another first-time varsity reserve, Ryan

Fitzpatrick, made a 3-pointer. The visitors were ahead 13-10 going into the

second.

Amos blocked another shot, and reserve Cam Forrester

converted on the opposite end to tie the game. Starting point guard Barrett

Stanley established himself with the basketball, pushing it up the floor,

creating shots for others and drawing fouls. Led by him, the hosts were ahead

17-15.

Starter Micah Moore and Westbrook each scored off steals in

the final 1:10. With a pair of 3-pointers, Windsor was still in the game,

though it was the Hornets leading at the break 24-23.

As Windsor missed four lay-ups out of five tries, baskets by

Stanley and Moore, an offensive put-back from Forrester and a feed inside to

Amos stretched the Hornets out ahead 34-25. Charile Ayer made his first attempt

on a dribble move inside, and it was 38-26 with one quarter remaining.

Westbrook’s early 3-pointer gave him the team-high 12

points. Stanley had eight and James Beeland seven. Amos scored six to go with

two key fourth-period steals. Moore put in six plus blocked a shot in the final

period. Down the stretch, Westfield missed five out of eight foul shots while

Windsor was 4-for-6.

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