Westchester trims Woodlawn, 62-57
BY MICHAEL LINDSAYENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — A strong second half got Westchester Countr y Day back on the winning track.The Wildcats scored the first 14 points of the second half to build a double-digit lead, played with confidence down the stretch to weather a come-back and defeated Woodlawn 62-57 in nonconference NCISAA boys basketball Wednesday at Westchester’s Finch Center.
“I wouldn’t say it was the prettiest game we’ve ever played, but I do feel like we needed that,” Westchester coach David Carrier said. “We needed to tough it out, and Woodlawn is very well-coached and a really tough team to play against. We felt like we had a little more depth, so we kept a lot of pressure on them and hoped they’d make a couple mistakes late. I think they got a little tired and we capitalized on it.”
J3 Swindell had 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Wildcats (9-7), who had lost three in a row after a strong December in which they won six in a row. Jackson Weil and Tyler Matthews each added 16 points as Westchester righted itself heading into games against High Point Christian and Greensboro Day.
After a back-and-forth first half in which they led by eight in the first before falling behind seven in the second, the Wildcats trailed 32-31 into halftime. But they opened the second half with scores on five of their first six possessions to quickly lead by 13 with 5:08 left in the quarter.
“In the first half, we weren’t playing defense and rebounding very well,” said Swindell, a freshman. “At halftime, Coach told us we could get back in this game and win if we rebounded and got back on defense. That’s what we did and we started converting from 3 and got hot. We just played team ball and got the win.
“We do the same thing in practice,” he said of executing in the second half. “If you can do it in practice, you’ve got to do it in the game. When you’re executing in the game, it’s fun — it’s basketball. When you’re working hard and playing and doing what you need to do, it’s fun.”
Westchester — which made four 3-pointers during the run, including an accidental 3 on a pass by Weil — also forced two turnovers and four misses on defense dur-ing that stretch before the Trailblazers (11-7) eventually recovered to pull within five to end the quarter.
“That was the key to the game,” Carrier said. “We talk about the eight most important minutes of the game are the first two in the first quarter, the last two in the second quarter, the first two minutes of the third quarter — which were really important for us — and then the last two minutes of the game. We talk about that all the time, and the guys just came out and stuck to the game plan and finally started hitting some shots.”
Woodlawn, which was led by Jesse Jacobson with 17 points, got as close as two with 6:49 to go in the fourth. But Matthews made a key 3 with 6:10 left to spark an 11-2 run for the Wildcats to rebuild their double-digit lead with 3:40 left and worked the clock well in the final minutes to hang on.
Westchester returns to PTAC action Tuesday at home against crosstown rival High Point Christian, who the Wildcats beat 94-84 on Dec. 6, before visiting Greensboro Day on Jan. 24 for the first of their two meetings.
“It was a team effort,” Carrier said. “Having J3 in there to rebound is so important for us. He’s as good a rebounder as I’ve ever coached. And the guys kind of feed off that a little bit. I thought it was just a great team win. We needed to struggle a little bit and learn a little something about ourselves.
“We’ve got a great conference and we had a great game last night against Forsyth Country Day. I think it’ll give us a lot of confidence when we get in tight games, and I think we’ll be in a lot of tight games. I love my team and I’m proud of these guys. I feel like we’re this close to really taking another step, but all in all I’m proudof where we are.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com@HPEmichael
BY MICHAEL LINDSAYENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — A strong second half got Westchester Countr y Day back on the winning track.The Wildcats scored the first 14 points of the second half to build a double-digit lead, played with confidence down the stretch to weather a come-back and defeated Woodlawn 62-57 in nonconference NCISAA boys basketball Wednesday at Westchester’s Finch Center.
“I wouldn’t say it was the prettiest game we’ve ever played, but I do feel like we needed that,” Westchester coach David Carrier said. “We needed to tough it out, and Woodlawn is very well-coached and a really tough team to play against. We felt like we had a little more depth, so we kept a lot of pressure on them and hoped they’d make a couple mistakes late. I think they got a little tired and we capitalized on it.”
J3 Swindell had 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Wildcats (9-7), who had lost three in a row after a strong December in which they won six in a row. Jackson Weil and Tyler Matthews each added 16 points as Westchester righted itself heading into games against High Point Christian and Greensboro Day.
After a back-and-forth first half in which they led by eight in the first before falling behind seven in the second, the Wildcats trailed 32-31 into halftime. But they opened the second half with scores on five of their first six possessions to quickly lead by 13 with 5:08 left in the quarter.
“In the first half, we weren’t playing defense and rebounding very well,” said Swindell, a freshman. “At halftime, Coach told us we could get back in this game and win if we rebounded and got back on defense. That’s what we did and we started converting from 3 and got hot. We just played team ball and got the win.
“We do the same thing in practice,” he said of executing in the second half. “If you can do it in practice, you’ve got to do it in the game. When you’re executing in the game, it’s fun — it’s basketball. When you’re working hard and playing and doing what you need to do, it’s fun.”
Westchester — which made four 3-pointers during the run, including an accidental 3 on a pass by Weil — also forced two turnovers and four misses on defense dur-ing that stretch before the Trailblazers (11-7) eventually recovered to pull within five to end the quarter.
“That was the key to the game,” Carrier said. “We talk about the eight most important minutes of the game are the first two in the first quarter, the last two in the second quarter, the first two minutes of the third quarter — which were really important for us — and then the last two minutes of the game. We talk about that all the time, and the guys just came out and stuck to the game plan and finally started hitting some shots.”
Woodlawn, which was led by Jesse Jacobson with 17 points, got as close as two with 6:49 to go in the fourth. But Matthews made a key 3 with 6:10 left to spark an 11-2 run for the Wildcats to rebuild their double-digit lead with 3:40 left and worked the clock well in the final minutes to hang on.
Westchester returns to PTAC action Tuesday at home against crosstown rival High Point Christian, who the Wildcats beat 94-84 on Dec. 6, before visiting Greensboro Day on Jan. 24 for the first of their two meetings.
“It was a team effort,” Carrier said. “Having J3 in there to rebound is so important for us. He’s as good a rebounder as I’ve ever coached. And the guys kind of feed off that a little bit. I thought it was just a great team win. We needed to struggle a little bit and learn a little something about ourselves.
“We’ve got a great conference and we had a great game last night against Forsyth Country Day. I think it’ll give us a lot of confidence when we get in tight games, and I think we’ll be in a lot of tight games. I love my team and I’m proud of these guys. I feel like we’re this close to really taking another step, but all in all I’m proudof where we are.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com@HPEmichael
