Big Fourth Quarter Gets West Boys' Basketball Back to .500

For three quarters, the Cherry Hill West boys’ basketball team did just enough to stay within arm's length of visiting Timber Creek. The Lions certainly weren’t at their best Thursday night, but they would hit a jump shot here and get a steal there to remind the Chargers that they were hanging around.

Once the fourth quarter rolled around, West quickly showed Timber Creek—and themselves—just what type of team it could be.

The Lions outscored the Chargers 28-12 over the final eight minutes to run away with a 63-50 Olympic Conference victory that moved the team back to the .500 mark.

The fourth quarter rally was fueled by forward Will Plenty and guard Rodney Williams, who combined for 14 points in the final frame.

“In the fourth quarter I told myself, I wasn’t worried about the points, but I knew I had to turn it on and step up for my team,” said Williams. “This was a big conference game and we had to get this win.”

Williams (13 points) is the team’s leading scorer, but it was the play of Plenty that turned Thursday’s contest. Plenty finished with a team-high 20 points, all of which came from inside the paint or at the free throw line. When the Lions went inside to Plenty, the Chargers seemed helpless to stop him.

“It was good to help the team out with some scoring,” said Plenty. “I got off to a slow start this season, but things have been a lot better lately.”

Plenty was particularly clutch at the free throw line, where he went 8-of-8, all in the second half.

Big men aren’t always known for their free throw shooting, and Plenty admitted it hasn’t always been his strong suit, either.

“No, it hasn’t always been like that,” said Plenty with a smile. “They’re going in now, and hopefully that continues to happen.”

The way the game started it didn’t seem like the Lions would be salting the game away on the free throw line. Timber Creek senior George Sapp came out on fire, connecting on 4-of-5 shots for 10 points as Creek built a 21-16 lead after the first quarter.

Sapp—who is at his fourth school in four years—finished with a game-high 25 points, but was held in check for much of the second half thanks to the defensive work of Williams and others.

“He went to a couple of other high schools so not a lot of people know him in the area, but he is a tough guard to defend,” Williams said. “He is so quick and can shoot. I mean, you have to play him honest.”

West trailed by three at the half and by nine with 6:20 left in the third quarter. The Lions closed the third on an 11-4 run thanks to six points from Plenty.

The defense then took over in the fourth quarter, limiting the Chargers to jump shots and cleaning the glass on misses.

“We have a lot of guys inside that are tough,” Williams said. “They block shots and (don’t give up) a lot of offensive rebounds, and that’s what we had to do to win this game.”

West has a long break before returning to action Thursday against Winslow.