Special to the Gazette
TIFTON — Westlake High turned a tight 41-40 game into an eight point lead in just one minute of basketball time, as the Lions outlasted the Tift County Blue Devils, 65-53 Wednesday night in College Park.
With the win, Westlake (24-6) will take on Savannah High (25-4), Saturday at 8:30 p.m. at Fort Valley State University.
Savannah defeated Coffee High by a basket at home on Wednesday night.
The Lions turned the Blue Devils over on consecutive trips late in the third quarter, getting two easy baskets by Javoris Bryant.
“We had trouble scoring on them,” Tift head coach Johnny Spurlin said in a postgame interview.
“But I am proud of my team. We hung in there, and we had a shot.”
Tift did have a shot, as early on, the Blue Devils went shot-for-shot with the Lions, who led 13-9 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Micah McCant got a steal and was fouled on the play. His free throw tied the game at 26, but Westlake got a key basket from Tony Jacobs, a 6-foot-8, 280 pound football recruit — at the buzzer.
Jacobs’ basket gave Westlake a two point lead at the half, 28-26.
In the third quarter, Tift’s Kevis Clark pulled the Blue Devils to within one point, after a goaltend was called — narrowing the Lions’ lead to 41-40.
But then, Westlake and Bryant went on their run, and Tift could not recover as the Lions went 11-for 13 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
Senior Adonis Whitehead led Tift with 16 points, while seniors Darius Davis and Kevin Brown each added nine for the Blue Devils.
Dajour Mitchell had six, Jerome Graydon had five, and Rod Downs added three for Tift County.
Tift ends the season at 20-10, as the senior group of Whitehead, Davis, Brown, Mitchell, and Clark leave Tift County with a three-year record of 61-28.
