Sports
Thrills and Chills Lead Hazelwood West to Second-Place Finish at St. Charles West Tournament
The Wildcats won the first two games in exciting fashion, then fell just short after rallying from 19 points down in championship game against Lutheran North.
ST. CHARLES–With an exciting start to the boys basketball season, the took home second place in the prestigious , after a 68-64 loss Friday night to Lutheran North in the championship game.
“Hats off to the kids,” said West coach Cary Lewis Jr. “They fought, fought, fought, fought the whole way. The kudos go to the kids. I didn’t have anything to do with it. I was just out there watching.”
And what the coach watched was three terribly exciting ballgames played by the Wildcats against stiff competition.
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In Monday’s season opener against Ft. Zumwalt West, the Wildcats lost their lead on a last-second shot, but then won the game on a buzzer-beater by junior Devon Carter.
Then on Wednesday, West , thanks to some brilliant last-minute play by senior Derrian Johnson that lifted the Wildcats to a 67-60 win.
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And on Friday, the Wildcats nearly pulled off a 19-point, fourth-quarter rally in the championship game against Lutheran North.
“I’m kind of disappointed, though,” Lewis said, following Friday’s loss. “(Lutheran North) is a tough team. They won this game flat-out from the start. Our kids played soft, very tentative. It’s early though, we’ll benefit from it.”
One thing West learned is it definitely has found itself a go-to player in crunch time situations.
Johnson, who averaged 13.3 points in the three Warrior Classic games, and scored 22 points Friday night against Lutheran North, with a sensational 15 points in the fourth quarter nearly brought the Wildcats back from a 58-39 deficit.
The 6-foot-1-inch combo guard hit three 3-pointers in that fourth quarter, including an NBA-range three that pulled West to within 67-63 with 32.0 seconds left in the game.
Unfortunately though, that was as close as the Wildcats would get, adding only a single free throw the rest of the game, while Lutheran North ran out the clock to win.
“I’m proud of him,” Lewis said. “He didn’t want to quit, that’s what it was. He kept fighting.”
West’s next regular season action will be Friday when the team will begin Suburban North Conference play with a 7 p.m. game at Riverview Gardens High School.