REGION 1-AAAA TOURNAMENT: Westover boys stun top-seeded Monroe

AMERICUS — Allec Williams is the heart and spirit of the Westover High School boys basketball team and it was evident Thursday night in the Region 1-AAAA Tournament semifinals at Americus-Sumter High School.

The Patriots senior provided a jump start for his teamas Westover stunned top-seeded Monroe 61-43.

The win will send the Patriots into the finals Friday night where they will meet Bainbridge, who defeated Worth County in the other semifinal. The championship game is slated for 8:30 p.m. at Americus-Sumter.

The teams played close for the entire game with Westover holding a slight advantage. The Tornadoes took a one-point lead with 5:45 in the third quarter when Emeshuan Offord hit a three. The lead didn’t hold long as Kris Gardner hit two threes right after to give Westover the lead back.

The fourth quarter got emotional when a hard foul sent Jacobi Cratic to the line. With Monroe’s Napoleon Harris out of the game, Cratic scored three points to extend the lead to six.

Williams ran into a Monroe player and went down violently. But he got up with the assistance of a trainer and went to the locker room. The game was delayed a bit to clean up blood from the court.

Williams came back with 3:02 left in the game.

His impact was immediately felt as he threw down a slam, then stole the ball and hit a fast break layup to make it 56-40 and put the game on ice.

“I’m just happy for him,” Westover coach Dallis Smith said. “He’s been the captain. He’s been the leader all year. We’ve been having some ups and downs and he stepped up big tonight.”

Monroe will face Worth County in the consolation game.

Offord had 11 points, while K’Naurtica George dropped 13.

Williams finished with 16 points, while Westover’s Jamarea Grier had 10 and Quindavious Smith scored 13.

Bainbridge boys 80, Worth County 59

The Bainbridge boys officially have Worth County’s number as the Bearcats routed the Rams in the semifinals.

Just like the last time the two teams met, Bainbridge guard Tyree Crump put on an offensive show scoring 45 points. The Georgia signee dropped 25 in the first half, including three treys in the final two minutes of the second quarter.

The Bearcats guard helped his team jump out to an early 20-11 lead with eight first quarter points.

Worth County’s guard play had trouble with the Bainbridge defense all night. The Rams struggled to get the ball past the Bearcats’ press and were forced to make many errant passes.

“Turnovers killed us,” Worth coach Roney Mays said. “We can’t beat a good basketball team by turning it over like we did. I guarantee we had 30 turnovers. Our guards have got to be better if we want to make a deep run in the playoffs.”

The Rams had cut the lead down to four in the second, but then Crump got hot.

Crump capped the Bearcats’ strong first half with a long three to beat the halftime buzzer and give Bainbridge a 40-30 lead.

Worth County only has six losses this season, three of which have come against Bainbridge.

Brandon Moore and Anfernee McLemore did all they could to keep Worth in the game in the third quarter.

The forwards combined to score all 12 of the Rams’ points and help ensure they weren’t down double digits by the end of the third.

The turnovers started to put Worth in a hole in the fourth quarter. Bainbridge scored 30 fourth-quarter points with only four of them coming from Crump. He did produce one highlight in the qurter. After forcing a turnover, Crump got the ball, bounced it off the floor to himself and slammed it home.

“We’ve go to go back to the basics,” Mays said. “We did not play defense at all. We need to focus on some defense now.”

Bainbridge will play in the finals on Friday night against the winner of the Westover/Monroe game which was incomplete at press time. The Rams will play the loser of the Westover/Monroe game in a consolation game on Friday night.

Crump finished with 29 points, while Myles Thomas had 10. Bainbridge also received 12 points from Devontae Jones.

McLemore and Moore both finished with 19 points.

Westover girls 27, Bainbridge 23

It was a defensive battle to the very end in the first girls semifinal game. The Lady Patriots were able to maintain their defense throughout and put up just enough points to beat Bainbridge.

The Lady Bearcats got on the board with a quick basket in the first minute before going cold and putting up a zero for the rest of the first quarter. The Lady Patriots doubled them up with two baskets and held a 4-2 lead at the end of the first.

“It was a great defensive game,” Westover coach Lewis Smith said. “Their man defense against our zone defense … both teams showed a lot of patience with running the offense. They didn’t settle. I did not see a lot of bad shots.”

The most that one team led was at the end of the second when Westover was up 15-9.

Just after halftime, Bainbridge cut the score to 17-16. That was as close as the Lady Bearcats could get.

The Lady Patriots’ defense clamped down in the fourth quarter, allowing just one basket and one 3-pointer. The Lady Bearcats had multiple chances to tie the game but failed to score.

Smith and his coaching staff were emotional after the game. A fan collapsed in the bleachers before the game. He was worked on by the paramedics and loaded into an ambulance just before tipoff.

“One of our supporters collapsed before the game,” Smith said. “He has always been very supportive with the programs over the years. It was just right before the game. Just seeing him go down like that it threw me off.”

Americus-Sumter girls 64, Monroe 47

The Lady Tornadoes kept up with Americus-Sumter for the first quarter before being overwhelmed by the top-seeded Lady Panthers in the Region 1-AAAA semifinals.

Florida State signee Atyanna Gaulden put in a complete effort. The guard did everything from setting up her teammates, finishing in the lane and playing strong defense to lead her team to the championship game.

Monroe trailed by just five after one, then the game started to slip away.

Americus-Sumter did have trouble with Monroe forward Cekeya Mack. She had 10 points in the second quarter.

A buzzer-beater three by Jy Long stretched the lead out to 13 at halftime. She hit two threes in a row to end the second quarter.

The Lady Panthers’ defense displayed their versatility in the third, drawing charges on three straight possessions.

Gaulden’s ultimate highlight came late in the third quarter. The guard took the ball from coast-to-coast, spun in the paint and hit a layup to make it a 14-point game.

Late in the fourth, the Lady Tornadoes went on an 11-2 run to make it a 10-point game before two straight buckets by Americus put it out of reach.

Long finished with 18 points in the game including four threes. Gaulden dropped 19 points. Americus also received a 12-point game from Timia Swanson.

Mack finished with a game high 21 points.

Monroe will face Bainbridge in a consolation game on Friday at 4 p.m., while Americus-Sumter will play Westover in the championship game.