Westlake spreads the wealth, takes care of Patuxent, 88-57
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Version 0 of 1. Striding past the top of the key with nothing but open court in front of him, Westlake forward Amir Lawrence slowed to steal a peek over his left shoulder. When he saw the closest Patuxent Panther trailing by five steps, Lawrence kept the ball to himself and finished an easy layup to pad a fourth-quarter cushion at home. For the first three quarters of Westlake’s 88-57 win over Patuxent on Wednesday night in Waldorf, the Wolverines built an advantage on crisp team basketball, making the extra pass and sharing the wealth. When Patuxent deployed a full-court press in the fourth quarter, the Wolverines handled it, scoring 34 points in the period to run away with the victory. Lawrence, who earned a call-up from junior varsity during last year’s run to the Maryland 3A state title game, finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. “You just feel it,” Lawrence said. “You know if you’re supposed to score, you just go and score.” Lawrence was one of four juniors to score in double figures for the Wolverines (8-3), who have been to the state championship each of the past two years. Joining him were fellow starters Jeff Simmons (16 points), Aubrey Wallace (13) and Everett Mouton (11). The Westlake bench outpaced Patuxent’s reserves 31-17. With three minutes left in the game, Patuxent Coach Nick Wilson already had removed his starting five. Wallace, a point guard, is the lone returner from last year’s rotation playing significant minutes. He helped the Wolverines start fast by breaking an early tie with five consecutive points and a three-pointer. “When he gets it going, everyone else just kind of falls in like dominoes,” Westlake Coach Ed Mouton said. Patuxent trailed by 12 at the half and was just 3 for 10 from the free throw line in the first two quarters. Senior guard Darus Maddox scored 20 points, and forward Terell Gross had 14. After a nine-game winning streak, the Panthers (9-3) have lost two straight. “We’ve just got to refocus,” Wilson said. “We just made too many mistakes to be able to compete with them.” As the fourth quarter wound down, Wallace was able to watch his teammates keep up the scoring. He much prefers ending the game on the bench to starting it there. “It’s great because you get to sit back and relax and just watch a good game of basketball,” Wallace said. “Everybody’s eating.” |