CLEVELAND, Ga. — Winning the close games has been the only thing that has kept the West Hall boys from already turning heads around the area under new coach Chuck Graham.
The Spartans' gritty 50-49 road win over White County on Tuesday in a huge early Region 7-3A game may be just what Graham and his staff have been waiting on.
They came into the game having gone 1-4 in games decided by 6 points or less until Tuesday night. The win moved the Spartans (3-5, 2-1 Region 7-3A) within one game of first place.
Sophomore guard Troy Smith put the Spartans on his back in the fourth quarter, scoring the final 10 points for West Hall. He finished with 13 points, with 11 coming in the second half.
"Troy grew up tonight, and so did our team," Graham said. "We've been close, and I've been telling them that. They showed they believed tonight."
However, after Smith made two free throws with 17 seconds left to give West Hall the final lead, they had to survive a pair of missed free throws by David Bowman and then a missed 3-pointer at the buzzer after a turnover with 5 seconds left to hold on for the victory.
The catalyst was a defense that unofficially swiped 18 steals on the night, as they never let the Warriors' offense get into a rhythm. The quick hands of Smith, Xavier Felix, and Landon Bennett produced 13 steals in the first half alone.
West Hall had been yielding 63 points/game, so Graham was more than pleased with their overall effort.
"We've thrived on defense, and I thought our energy level, especially in the second quarter, was great on defense. We preach deflections, and those turned into steals for us," he said.
West Hall trailed just once -- at 49-48 on a John Phillips basket with just 53 seconds left in the game -- and had built as much as a 40-29 advantage following a 13-6 third-quarter run to end the period. Phillips' layup capped an 11-2 run over six minutes for the Warriors in the fourth quarter.
"I thought we played well early and had to withstand a couple of runs. To get a region win on the road is huge," Graham said.
West Hall jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead on a Felix 3-pointer, but the Warriors answered with a 3-pointer from Tripp Nix to cut the lead to 5-3. From there, the Spartans' defense went to work.
Sparked by two steals each from Felix and Smith, the West Hall defense swiped seven steals in the opening frame as they closed out the first quarter with a 12-3 run, with Teryk Tilley pouring in 4 points and dishing out two assists.
White County did not go away. The Warriors opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run, fueled by a pair of three-point plays from Braxton Anderson and Noah Futch to close the gap to 17-15.
A Landon Bennett 3-pointer pushed West Hall's lead back to 27-22 with just under three minutes left in the half. A free throw by Boman pulled White County within 27-23 at the half.
Bennett finished with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, to pace West Hall but had just 3 points after halftime. Tilley had 8 points and eight rebounds for the Spartans but was held scoreless in the second half. Felix added 6 points on two treys for West Hall.
Anderson finished with 12 points, 9 in the second-half comeback, to lead White County (3-7, 0-2 Region 7-3A). Phillips had 10, Boman 9, and Nix and Futch each scored 8 points for the Warriors.
WHITE COUNTY GIRLS 71,
WEST HALL 17
The Lady Warriors held West Hall to just two first-half field goals in building an early lead en route to a Region 7-3A win at home.
White County led 23-3 after the opening period and built its lead to 44-5 by halftime.
Emma Lightsey led the way with 15 points, and Kylie Watkins had 13 as 13 different players scored for the Lady Warriors.
Cayla Radich led West Hall with 10 points.
