CLASS AAAA STATE TOURNAMENT: Westover Patriots avoid upset in first round

ALBANY — Westover High School had to wait a little bit longer than anticipated Wednesday night.

But in the end, it was worth it.

After showing up just minutes after 6 p.m., the scheduled game time, Eastside gave the Patriots all they could handle at Westover’s Boston Garden in the first round of the Georgia High School Class AAAA state tournament.

The Patriots managed to avoid a first-round upset with a 70-68 victory that came down to the final minutes.

The Eagles led 66-63 with 1:13 left when Allec Williams hit a driving layup. But Eastside’s Isaiah Miller hit the first free throw of a one-and-one to take a two-point lead.

Westover’s Emerson Jones made a clutch basket to knot the game at 67 with 50 seconds left.

Then once again, Miller hit the first free throw but was not able to make the second. The referee called Eastside for a push violation before the second free throw was attempted. The call gave Westover the ball back with 20 seconds left.

On the next possession, Williams found Kris Gardner, who was fouled with 7.1 seconds remaining. Gardner hit both free throws to put Westover ahead 69-68.

“It is no secret that he makes us go,” Westover coach Dallis Smith said. “When he is focused in and running the offense and the team, he does a great job at that.”

Eastside’s attempt was blocked, but the Eagles fouled Jones, who hit one free throw to make it 70-68.

A full-court heave as time expired went wide left.

The teams traded baskets to open the first. Williams found Jacobi Cratic for back-to-back baskets to open the game. Later in the quarter, Cratic pulled down two offensive rebounds that led to easy baskets.

It was tied at 18 at the end of the first.

The Patriots closed the first half on a 15-6 run and led by 10 at one point in the second quarter. Williams kickstarted the run, scoring 13 points in the quarter. At halftime, Westover was up 40-31.

The Eagles trailed by as many as 11 in the third quarter before forcing Westover into numerous mistakes.

Two straight steals off inbound passes led to easy baskets for Eastside as it cut the score down to 52-47 at the end of three.

Eastside took its first lead of the second half with four minutes remaining in the game.

The tardiness caused the game to be delayed by 30 minutes.

“You get anxious and you get ready to play,” Smith said. “You get your mindset for a six o’clock game. There are things you want to do and go over and get accomplished.”

Williams led Westover with 25 points. Jamarea Grier added 11 points, while Cratic scored 12.

Miller scored 25 for the Eagles while Keiondre Perry dropped 19. Raytavius Jackson also contributed 10 points for Eastside.

The Patriots will host Woodward Academy in the second round of the playoffs on Saturday. Woodward Academy defeated Monroe Area 53-52 in its first round game.