BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Deerfield-Windsor, Westover sweep to victories

ALBANY — Defense was the name of the game Tuesday night as Deerfield-Windsor opened the regular basketball season hosting Worth County.

The Rams didn’t react well to the pressure defense put on by both the boys and girls teams of Deerfield-Windsor. The Knights (1-0) belted the Rams (2-1) 65-37 and the No. 8-ranked Lady Knights won easily, 49-23.

Deerfield-Windsor’s Hays Revell drained a 3-pointer from the corner to open the game and the Knights never trailed. The Rams tied the game 3-3 when Ben Jackson responded with a 3-pointer for Worth County. But from then on, the Knight defense dominated. Jarvis Smith laid up two points and added another point with a free throw and Andrew Sceals followed with a 3-pointer that put the Knights up 16-3, forcing Worth County head coach Sanders Dorough to call a timeout to try and regroup with his team.

It didn’t help much as the Knights built a 27-5 lead after the first quarter and led 40-14 at the half. The Rams only had 14 points because Worth County’s Cameron Marshall swished a long 3-pointer near halfcourt at the buzzer.

The Rams pulled closer in the third quarter when the intense defensive play started to slack up and Knights head coach Jarvis Smith put in five fresh players. But after the rest and the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Knights took over again and stretched the lead.

“I thought we played well,” Smith said after the game. “We were not looking to embarrass anybody and I also wanted to reward these guys who work so hard every single day. We got a little sloppy in the second half, but we took a little time and got it back.”

Jackson Harris led the scoring for Deerfield-Windsor with 19 points. Tyrean Lebeauf added 10, while Revell and Smith each added nine. Marshall led Worth County with nine points and Michael Jones added eight.

The Lady Knights opened with a full court press and pulled out to a 9-0 lead before the Lady Rams could get on the board. Head coach Gina Mitchell relaxed the full court pressure and substituted liberally but kept up the intensity and Deerfield-Windsor had built a 35-9 lead. Point guard Genevieve Lanier scored the final eight points of the second quarter with two 3-pointers from the top of the key and a two-point shot.

The Lady Knights led by as many as 30 points early in the third before Worth County’s Bender scored 10 third quarter points to get the Lady Rams going, but it was too little too late against the No. 8-ranked Lady Knights.

Gabrielle Harris led the Lady Knights with 12 points and Lanier ended the game with 11, Bender scored 13 for the Lady Rams.

Deerfield-Windsor will host Brookstone Thursday with the girls starting at 6 p.m. Worth County will travel to Turner County to play Friday night.

Westover sweeps Randolph-Clay

CUTHBERT — The Westover Patriots and Lady Patriots traveled to Cuthbert Tuesday night and both came home winners. The Patriots downed the Red Devils 69-56 and the Lady Patriots won 58-24.

The Patriots were led by Kemari Leverette with 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Effrin Smith followed with 12 points and six rebounds while Anthony Milton and Tracy Williams each added eight points.

The Lady Patriots’ Anaiya Donaldson poured in 21 points to lead Westover. She also pulled down six rebounds, doled out three assists and stole the ball three times. Rayven Thurston scored six points, pulled down six rebounds, blocked four shots and stole the ball three times.

Westover will host Tift County Saturday night in Albany.

Joe WhitfieldJoe Whitfield

Joe Whitfield

Joe Whitfield