Westover girls fall, Monroe girls win in region basketball playoffs

ALBANY — A Westover girls basketball season that began with so much hope and promise came to a crashing end Monday night with a region playoff game loss to Thomas County Central by a 39-33 final.

The Lady Patriots of Westover had beaten Thomas County Central twice this season, including the previous Friday. After a streak of winning seven of nine games, including one of those at Thomas Central, the Lady Patriots earned a spot in the Class AAAA top 10, but Monday night was not a good one for the Lady Patriots. And with it being playoff season, one bad night can end your season.

The Lady Yellow Jackets swished three shots from beyond the arc to lead 9-0 early in the first quarter and Westover never recovered. The ball simply would not go into the basket. The outside shots wouldn’t fall so guard Rayven Thurston and forward Anaiya Donaldson tried driving into the lane or dishing the ball to someone underneath. Those shots wouldn’t fall either.

The Lady Yellow Jackets led 21-12 at the half and stretched that lead to 34-20 at the end of three quarters.

A full-court press in the fourth rattled the Lady Jackets and Westover scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to close the gap to 34-28 with four minutes left in the game. The Lady Jackets got past the press a couple of times and played keep away and when Westover fouled to get the ball back, Thomas Central hit its free throws to hold off the Lady Patriots.

The Lady Jackets hit six 3-point shots in the first half, but none in the second half. Westover scored only one 3-point basket all night, and that was from Lundyn Walker with just a little over a minute remaining in the game.

Westover didn’t get any players into double figures but Thurston led the Lady Patriots with eight points, Jada Landers added seven and Donaldson finished with six.

The Lady Patriots end the year with a 14-10 record, which is a huge improvement from last year’s 3-8 mark. The Lady Patriots will lose two seniors from this squad, so coach Derek Pace and the Lady Patriots will likely be a challenger in the region again next season.

Thomas County Central will now face top-seeded Dougherty Thursday night at Dougherty.

Monroe 59, Cairo 16

Across town, the Lady Tornadoes of Monroe had no problem with Cairo, winning 59-16, as coach Jennifer Acree was able to play her entire team and everybody on the team scored.

The Lady Tornadoes started out slow, scoring only 10 first-quarter points, but pulled away in the second quarter and were never threatened.

Aaliyah Robinson and Saniyah Graham each scored 11 points to led Monroe (14-11).

The Lady Tornadoes will now advance to the semifinals of the region tournament Thursday against Bainbridge (16-9). The Lady Tornadoes have played the Lady Bearcats twice, losing the first time and winning in overtime in the second game. Bainbridge has now moved into the state’s top 10 rankings at No. 9. The game is set for Thursday at 6 p.m. at Dougherty High School.

Joe Whitfield