Big fourth sparks Westwood by Scurry-Rosser
Published 10:04 pm Friday, February 21, 2025
- Palestine Westwood celebrates their 63-53 win over Scurry-Rosser on Friday in a Class 3A Division 2 area basketball playoff game at the Herrington Patriot Center on the campus of UT Tyler. (Phil Hicks/Tyler Morning Telegraph)
Chris Carter’s two 3-pointers sparked a 13-1 run in the fourth quarter to help the Palestine Westwood Panthers to a 63-53 victory over the Scurry-Rosser Wildcats on Friday in a Class 3A Division 2 area basketball game at the Herrington Patriot Center on the UT Tyler campus.
Westwood, winners of seven straight games, improved to 22-7 on the season. The Wildcats suffered only their third loss of the season, finishing their campaign at 26-3.
The Panthers advance to meet Kountze (34-2) in the Region III semifinals next week. The Lions defeated East Bernard 88-44 on Friday in Houston.
The contest was tight throughout with S-R leading 24-20 at halftime and it was tied 45-45 heading into the fourth quarter.
Carter, a junior guard, drained a 3-pointer to put the Panthers ahead 48-47 with 7:22 showing in the fourth and another trey with 4:12 on the clock that gave Westwood a little breathing room, 55-50.
“We just wanted to come out, compete and play hard,” Carter said. “We just wanted to knock down shots when needed. (In the fourth quarter), we had to slow it down, take control and finish the game.”
The Panthers outscored the Wildcats, 18-8, in the final period.
Carter led Westwood with 29 points while Kavian Bryant, who has received a basketball offer from Texas and multiple football offers including from Tennessee on Thursday, added 22 points.
Others scoring for the Panthers were Sebastian Lathan Jr. (6), David Russell (6) and Jonathan Glenn (2).
Carter hit five 3-pointers with one from Bryant.
“Credit to Scurry-Rosser,” Westwood Coach Kadrian Bryant said. “That’s a good ballclub over there. Four (Ralph Miller) and zero (Grayson Hill) are really good players. Hats off to my guys for coming back out (after halftime) and giving one of the best defensive efforts of the year. They got some good stops when they were much needed in the third quarter. In the fourth, we picked it up. I just credit our defense for giving us that boost.”
Hill led the Wildcats with 18 points with Miller adding 15 points.
Others scoring for S-R were Cole Hartzell (10), Kole Bradley (8) and Caleb Perry (2).
Hill connected on three 3-pointers with two from Miller.
Lathan led the Panthers on the glass with 10 rebounds. Other boards were from Bryant (8), Ryan Gibson (7), Carter (5), Cesar Evangelista (5) and Russell (4).
Bryant had five steals with four by Carter. Lathan and Bryant each had two blocks and Russell drew a charge.
Bradley was the top rebounder in the game with 17. Other Wildcats with rebounds were Hill (8), Miller (6) and Hartzell (6).
Hartzell had five blocks with two from Miller. Hartzell and Peavy each drew charges.
Westwood was 6 of 16 from 3-point and 9 of 16 from the free throw line.
S-R was 5 of 18 from 3-point and 10 of 13 from the charity stripe.