Boys Basketball: Westinghouse pulls away from TF North

Updated: December 5, 2011 10:02PM

After a less than stellar first half at Sunday’s McGinnis Jump Ball Showcase at Thornton, Westinghouse still held a slim halftime advantage, leading T.F. North 21-13.

The problems, though, were obvious to Westinghouse’s Dewon White.

“Missed free throws, turnovers, defensive lapses,” White said.

With the offense finally starting to click, White and Ricky Battles led a huge second half effort as Westinghouse blew open a close game, eventually winning 60-50.

White and Battles had 19 points apiece for Westinghouse (4-2) with Marlik Williams adding 10. D.J. Deere had 17 points to lead T.F. North (2-4) with Ashanti Randolph contributing with 11 points and seven rebounds.

With 21 points scored through two quarters as a team, White and Battles led an offensive explosion in the third quarter as Westinghouse scored 26 points, going up by as many as 22 points at 47-25.

White scored 10 points, all five baskets coming in the lane, with Battles scoring six of his own in the quarter.

“Our coaches are always after us to play defense,” White said. “(In the third quarter), we just played as a team, and offensively we wanted to move the ball around.”

Facing a huge double-digit deficit, T.F. North turned to Deere in the fourth. The guard hit three three-pointers and connected on all four of his free-throw attempts. His third shot from long range cut Westinghouse’s advantage to 10 points at 58-48.

Battles found Darrell Grant for an easy basket inside with over a minute to go to squash the comeback effort.

“We only played about four minutes of T.F. North basketball,” North coach Tim Bankston said. “We didn’t play basketball until the last four minutes. The kids are young, and sometimes they don’t have that urgency. They will tomorrow.”

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