Morgan Singleton leads Westwood into state semifinals

CAMILLA — Friday night’s GISA Class AAA state quarterfinal game against Westfield was probably the toughest game the Lady Wildcats have played all year.

The Lady Hornets, having lost to Westwood by nine points earlier in the season, were poised to come to Camilla to hand the Lady Wildcats their first loss of the season.

They very nearly did. Once again, however, the senior leadership of Morgan Singleton saved the day for Westwood as the Lady Wildcats advanced to the state semifinals with a 53-45 win over the Lady Hornets in front of a raucous crowd consisting of fans from both schools.

The outcome of the game was decided on free-throw shooting in the fourth quarter, particularly near the end.. The Lady Wildcats made the most of their opportunities down the stretch. Singleton hit five of her last six foul shots to seal the win.

As a team, Westwood shot 11 of 15 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Wildcats came out extremely strong to start the game, going on a 19-6 run to end the first quarter, but the Lady Hornets stormed back to take the late lead at 24-23 in the second quarter.

However, Westwood responded by scoring the last four points of the half to go into halftime with a 27-24 advantage. Karlie Jones scored nine of her points in the first half to lead Westwood, while Westfield’s Katlyn Moseley scored 12 first-half points, 10 of them in the second quarter.

The third quarter was a back-and forth-affair. With Westfiled up 37-33 with three minutes left in the third, Haley Marshall nailed a 3-pointer to cut the Lady Hornets’ lead to one.

Both teams continued to trade baskets throughout the rest of the second half. Then with 3:12 to go in the game and Westfield up 43-41, Singleton was fouled while shooting and made both free throws to tie the game.

A minute later, Callie Smith was fouled and hit both free throws, giving Westwood a one-point lead. However, the Hornets came right back and tied the game when Chelsea Whaley hit one of two foul shots, tying the game again.

Smith responded again by scoring to give the Lady Wildcats a two-point lead. Westfield missed some critical free throws down the stretch, which proved to be costly. On the other hand, the Lady Wildcats were able to hit their free throws when they had to have them, sealing the victory.

Singleton led Westwood in scoring with 19 points, 10 of those points coming from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. Jones was also in double figures for the Lady Wildcats, scoring 13 points.

Moseley led Westfield with a game-high 22 points, while Unique Tuberville chipped in 10 in the losing cause.