Deerfield-Windsor takes two from Westfield

ALBANY — Just hours after sweeping rival Terrell Academy, the Deerfield-Windsor basketball teams were back on the court and winning again Saturday afternoon.

The Knights held off a strong rally from the Hornets to win 49-42 and after early struggles the top-rated Lady Knights wiped out Westfield 62-24.

Deerfield-Windsor senior Jackson Harris scored 13 of the Knights’ 14 fourth-quarter points to keep his team in the lead as the Hornets tried to rally late.

The Knights led 24-15 at halftime thanks to five three-pointers in the first half. Jackson and Hays Revell each swished two threes and Lane Sceals also knocked on in. But Westfield hit the first three baskets of the second half to close to six before Deerfield-Windsor head coach Rundy Foster called time to slow the Hornets down. Moments later, however, Westfield’s Brody Mcdaniel hit back-to-back threes to push the Hornets to a 27-26 lead. A three by Deerfield-Windsor’s Jake Hatcher gave the Knights the lead again and DWS led 35-34 heading into the final period.

The Knights’ defense kept the Hornets off balance in the final quarter and Harris was all over the court — picking off rebounds, driving the ball down the court and then getting into the paint to score. The Knights got one free throw from Mason Johnson in the final quarter and the other 13 points the Knights scored came from Harris. He led all scorers with 24 points in the game.

The win improves the Knights’ record to 6-5 on the season

The Lady Knights led throughout but the game was close early as head coach Gina Mitchell fussed about rebounds. The Lady Knights led 13-8 after the first quarter and stretched that lead to 39-22 at the half.

The second half was all Deerfield-Windsor as the Lady Knight outscored the Lady Hornets 23-2 in the second half.

The Lady Knights used a balanced scoring attack Saturday led by Joi Hubbard’s 12 points. Gabrielle Harris and Tamiya Brown each scored 11, Murphy Ray put in 10 and Genevieve Lanier added eight.

The Lady Knights are now 11-1 and hold the top ranking in the GIAA Class AAA girls basketball, according to Max Preps. Arch-rival Southland Academy is 11-0 and ranked second.

Deerfield-Windsor will host Valwood Tuesday night in Albany and then travel to Chula to take on Tiftarea Friday night.

Special Photo: Joe WhitfieldJoeWhitfield[email protected]