Monroe girls, Westover boys take wins

ALBANY — The Monroe Tornadoes and the Westover Patriots came into Saturday night’s matchup with different circumstances that caused them to dig deep and find the strength to pull off the win.

The recent weather conditions prevented the Patriots from playing this week, meaning their last game came about two weeks ago. The Tornadoes were on the tail end of back-to-back games. In the end, the Patriots shook off the rust and earned a 68-58 victory at Cavalier Arena.

In the second quarter, Westover built a 29-16 lead after a three from Jamarea Grier. Monroe fought back and cut into the deficit significantly after a dunk by Alpreze Thomas.

Ulysses Williams missed two consecutive 3-point attempts, but the Tornadoes crashed the glass and kept the possession alive before Williams redeemed himself with a three the hard way, making it 31-23 with 2:45 left in the half.

Fredrick West was on the receiving end of back-to-back outlet passes to close out the half and the Tornadoes went into the break trailing 34-29.

Monroe started the third with a steal and a layup, followed by a basket from Williams and it was just a one-point game. Monroe head coach Keith Hayes said his team ran the floor better and it worked in their favor.

“We were able to get the ball out, push it and get some easy baskets,” he said.

Westover head coach Dallis Smith said the Tornadoes took advantage of his team’s lack of execution during that time.

“Running the system. We didn’t do it when we first came out,” he said. “Those first four minutes in that third quarter are crucial and we talk about that all the time. They jumped out, hit that four points in a row, then we settled down and started executing.”

Kris Gardner got aggressive for Westover and helped extend the lead to eight after driving to the basket. Montravious Richardson gave the Patriots some points off the bench during that stretch, which Smith said was huge.

“[This game] was huge especially with region coming up,” Smith said. “There were some things we wanted to work on, some people we wanted to look at and I think we got something out of our big guy [Richardson] tonight. That’s what we’ve been missing all year. We’re gonna have to get something out of him and I was really pleased with the way he played tonight.”

Westover ended the third with a 53-41 lead and the Tornadoes never got closer than 12.

Monroe head coach Keith Hayes said his team didn’t have enough gas in the tank Saturday and thankfully this game only counts as a tune up before they get into region play.

“I’m feeling pretty good and think we’ll do well coming up in region,” he said. “Our biggest strength coming into the region is they listen. They try to do what the coaches ask them to do and that’s a great thing about this group of young men. They listen.”

The Patriots had four players score in double figures with Gardner leading the way with 15 points. Grier was next with 13, and Jordan Brown and Cam Westin chipped in 11 each.

West led the way for Monroe with 23 points, while Williams finished with 12.

Monroe girls 50, Westover 36

The cross-town showdown between the Monroe Lady Tornadoes and the Westover Lady Patriots started off close, but it was the Lady Tornadoes that pulled away.

The Lady Patriots held a slight 7-4 lead to start before a three-point play from Monroe’s Dee Jackson tied it. Monroe went ahead 9-7 before Westover’s Chastity Pickett knocked down two free throws to tie it back up. The Lady Tornadoes forced a few turnovers to end the first and pulled ahead 14-9. Westover head coach Lewis Smith said that’s when the game started to get away from them due to those turnovers.

“A lot of their offense is centered around turnovers and we had like three back-to-back turnovers, and they converted those turnovers into scores and it kind of got away from us,” he said.

Monroe coach Jennifer Acree said her team, who came off a tough game the night before against Dougherty, gave a better effort than Friday night, particularly to close out the first quarter.

“We were able to make some shots, take our time and execute our rotations on defensive presses,” she said.

Smith noted that Monroe’s press took them out of their offense, which they struggled running for the remainder of the game. Alissa Jones’ 3-pointer gave the Lady Tornadoes a double-digit lead, but Pickett answered with a bucket to bring the lead back down to eight. Monroe went on a 10-7 run to close out the half and went into the break ahead 29-18.

In the second half, Monroe’s second unit remained on the floor and were led by Jada Hunt and Austria Johnson. Acree said the two stepped up to lead the unit. She felt her bench deserved the game ball.

“They were playing hard, they were following directions and they were hot, and we always go with the hot hands,” she said. “I was especially proud of those two because it just strengthens our bench.”

The Lady Tornadoes pride themselves on being tough defenders, and Acree said she’s seeing improvement in parts of their press defense. But they still have work to do.

Jasmine Jenkins led the Lady Patriots with 10 points on the night.

Erica Hayes finished with a game-high 11 to lead the Lady Tornadoes, followed by Hunt with 10.

Things don’t get any easier for the Lady Patriots as they have a handful of region games coming up, but Smith is confident they’ll come out stronger.

“I think we’re getting better. Monroe’s style is the kind of style we’re gonna see in our region, lot of pressure defense,” he said. “So hopefully playing them will get us ready for the people we’re got to play.”