Westlake girls smother Southern
Wolvs advance to 2A South final
Sparked by its pressure defense which forced turnovers early and often, the Westlake High School girls basketball team made quick work of the visiting Southern High School squad from Anne Arundel County in Thursday’s Class 2A South Region Section II final en route to a 66-32 victory.
The win earned Westlake the right to host Oakland Mills of Howard County, the Section I winner, in Saturday’s 2A South Region final. The Wolverines fell 60-44 to finish 21-4 overall on the season.
Thursday night, Westlake opened the game on a 9-0 run and opened the second half on a 14-0 run over the first four minutes of the third quarter that enabled it to forge a 49-20 lead at that point. Neither team enjoyed any prolonged runs or suffered through any droughts over the last 12 minutes of play and Westlake coasted by a youthful Southern squad for the lopsided victory.
“Really, the whole key was putting pressure on them and making plays on defense,” said Westlake senior Jasmine Gholson, who led all scorers with 27 points. “We knew we had to stop their No. 32 [senior Cameron Mangold]. We watched film on them and she seemed like their best player and their only real scoring threat. She liked to drive to her right, so I needed to do a better job forcing her to go left.”
Mangold had led all scorers with 20 points in the Bulldogs’ 41-35 victory over Calvert on Tuesday evening in the section semifinals. But as the focal point of the staunch Wolverines pressure defense on Thursday, which forced 31 Bulldogs turnovers and prevented Southern (6-14) from running any sort of offense effectively, Mangold was limited to six points — all in the second quarter — as Westlake coasted.
“We have a really young team and I’m proud of all the girls for the way they played tonight and all season,” Southern coach Mike Doyle said. “Westlake has a very, very good team. They’re well-coached and they play excellent defense and they have some girls that can score. I thought this run was good for our girls and our program. Our goal now is to get back here next season and go even further.”
Gholson scored the game’s first seven points, 12 of the Wolverines’ first 14 points and had 13 in the first quarter alone. Gholson, who eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau in career scoring earlier this season, hit two three-point field goals in the first quarter and added two more in the second, including one that came in the waning seconds of the first half.
“I was definitely feeling it,” Gholson said. “I could tell in warmups before the game that I was on. I only missed two shots in warmups. I felt good early and made a couple of three-pointers and that helped my confidence.”
Senior Latavia Washington accounted for the Wolverines’ second bucket, added another three free throws in the second quarter and connected on her lone three-pointer late in the third. Washington noted the Westlake defense was the key to the fast start in both halves.
“We definitely wanted to pressure them early,” Washington said. “We forced some turnovers and got off to a fast start. Now we get to host the region final [on Saturday]. I’m excited, but a little nervous. This is my first region final.”
Gholson’s late three-pointer ended the first half and she promptly started the second half by connecting on another and Leah Johnson followed with her only three-pointer of the game. Buckets by Jenelle Fields, Johnson and free throws from Washington and Gholson enabled the Wolverines to open the second half with a 14-0 run for a commanding 49-20 lead.
Washington’s three-pointer was later followed by one from Southern’s Gianna Kronk. Southern scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter, but Westlake responded with a 9-2 run as Gholson nailed her sixth three-pointer of the night and Fields scored twice inside and Johnson added another layup to push the margin to 65-31 with five minutes remaining.