NORTH AUGUSTA — Westside’s High School basketball team edged out North Augusta 59-58 in the Patriots’ closest matchup of the season on Saturday, Dec. 9.
The Patriots went into to Saturday’s game with a 5-0 record, dominating each opposing team by 30-plus points. North Augusta, on a three-game win streak before this loss, led the game through the first three quarters before falling behind in the fourth.
Westside Head Coach Jerry Hunter expressed pride in the resilience his team showed during the first road game of the season.
“Solidarity, they stayed together emotionally,” Hunter said. “A lot of them are young and this our first game at somebody else’s gym. All of our other wins have been on neutral ground. Being here and them getting a chance to experience a very great home crowd in North Augusta. The resilience of them not giving up, it kind of reminds me of the brand were trying to build this team around and that is not giving up.”
The game was a back-and-forth battle early, but Yellow Jackets led 14-12 in the first quarter after a 3-pointer by Tanner Harrell.
Threes by Jordan Rouse and DaMario Saxon put North Augusta ahead 30-26 at the half.
Demarco Middleton kept the Patriots alive with 11 total points in the third quarter, but a late run by Jackets and two 3-pointers by Daron Dunbar pushed North Augusta ahead 51-45 going into the fourth.
Westside began the fourth with a 5-0 run and eventually tied the game 55-55 after a 3-pointer from LaVonta Ivery. With 1:50 remaining in the game, Jarious Adkinson gave the Patriots a 58-55 lead with a 3-pointer of his own.
Despite a technical foul and some missed free throws, Westside fought to win. Middleton led the Patriots with 19 points, followed by Adkinson with 11.
“We really had to make a lot of adjustments, we couldn’t get our perimeter game going and that is what has been carrying us,” Hunter said. “We had to figure out how to get the ball inside and get more paint touches and once we started doing that, it kind of opened the perimeter up.”
The Patriots are looking to win their third straight state title and to do that, Hunter said they must continue focusing on rebounding the basketball.
“You got to rebound for rings,” Hunter said. “If we are going to be one of those teams in the finals, we got to do a better job rebounding. We got a lot to work on, but we got something to work with.”
Westside will try and keep its winning streak going as the Patriots face Josey at home on Tuesday, Dec. 12.
Christopher Rickerson, an Augusta University graduate, has covered area sports for Augusta University, The Augusta Press and Augusta Good News. Subscribe to the Augusta Good News newsletter here.
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