Davis leads Westover boys to comeback win against Crisp County

ALBANY — It was all part of the plan.

Honest.

That’s what the kids and coaches at Westover said after the Patriots stormed back to beat Crisp County, 71-62, on Tuesday night at the Westover gym, where it looked like Crisp was going to pull off the upset against the Herald No. 2 Patriots.

Almost.

Crisp came hot firing and led most of the night, and looked in control with a 54-47 lead with 7:03 left in the game.

Then the plan kicked in, and C.J. Davis kicked down the door with the game of his life. Davis, a 6–foot,5 junior, suddenly became to go-to-guy for the Patriots, who went to him for the win. Kyle Baker hit a pair of free throws and was the right man on a fast break to close the score to 54-53 with 5:32 left, and then Davis took over.

Westover changed its defense and forced three turnovers in a row, and Davis went on a personal eight-point run to lift the Patriots to a 61-54 lead as he went 4-for-4 on the inside.

“In the second half we wanted to concentrate on getting the ball down low and getting it to C.J.,” Westover coach Dallis Smith said. “That’s what we talked about, and they were conscious about getting the ball to him. They did a good job getting him the ball, and C.J. had a great game.”

Davis scored 10 points in the final seven minutes to ignite the Patriots, who took off running and didn’t stop until they had outscored Crisp, 24-8, over the final seven minutes to stay unbeaten in the Region 1-AAAA race at 4-0. They are 5-1 for the season with the one loss coming to Class AAAAAA Tift County, which is ranked second in the state in the big school classification.

Davis finished with a career-high 23 points and eight rebounds.

“Yeah, that’s a career high,” Davis said with a smile after the game. “The most I ever scored in a game was 15 points.”

Davis knew the plan better than anyone.

“I was expecting the ball,” he said. “Once I saw a player go by their guy I was waiting for him to dish it to me.”

They did, and it was money in the bank.

“He played great,” said guard T.J. Cromer, who finished with 16 points. “He stepped up big time for us. The guards weren’t shooting the ball well and the plan was to go down low and get the ball (to C.J.) , and he had a great game.”

Crisp jumped out early on the strength of Davion Harvey, who scored 15 points in the first quarter, and had 18 at halftime. But he didn’t score in the second half. Javoris Cooks followed with 11 points for Crisp, which has been run through the grinder of late. Kel Miller finished with 13 points for Westover.

Crisp, the defending Region 1-AAAA champ, has been through a grinder of late.

The Cougars (3-3 and 2-2 in Region 1-AAAA) lost to Herald No. 1 Monroe, 40-39, on Friday, and watched Westover come from behind to beat them on Tuesday. They get a non-region break on Friday when they play Class A powerhouse Turner County at home.

Westover heads to Monroe on Friday for the first of what many expect to be two or three classic showdowns with the Tornadoes, who are unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the Herald Fab 5 poll.

CRISP COUNTY GIRLS 63, WESTOVER 54

ALBANY