Lady Lions Victorious In Opening Round of State Playoffs, Defeats Roswell 44-29

In the O\opening round of Georgia High Association Class 7A state playoffs, the Westlake Lady Lions hosted the Roswell Lady Hornets. As game started Westlake’s #20 Fr. Carlyse Hooks would put the Lions on the board first with a 17-ft jump shot but Roswell’s #2 Jr. Ally Sekelick would answer with a 3-pt shot of her own to give the Hornets a 3-2 lead. The Lions would get back to back buckets from #53 So. Paris Mulins (16 pts) to go ahead 6-4 with 4:46 remaining in the first quarter. The Lions would then go on a 7-3 run to take a 13-5 lead with 2:10 to go in the first quarter. The Hornets would get back to back baskets from #21 Sr. Kasey Cwalina to cut into the Lion’s lead to make it a 13-9 game with 1:35 to go in the first quarter but the Lions would close out the opening period with a 15-9 lead over Roswell.

In the second quarter Roswell would score 5 unanswered points to cut the Lion’s lead to 15-14 with 6:19 to go in the second quarter forcing the Lions to use a timeout. Out of the timeout Westlake’s #11 Jr. Taylor Hosendove (14 pts) would bank one off the glass as Westlake would go up 17-14 but Roswell would answer right back making it a 17-16 game. As the quarter continued, Westlake would go on a 7-0 run to give them a 24-16 lead with 2:21 to go and the Hornets would take a timeout. The Lions would hold onto their 24-16 lead as the quarter would come to an end but Roswell would take a little momentum into halftime as #15 Jr. Catherine Sandridge would hit a 2-point basket as time ran off the clock and cut the Westlake lead to 26-18 at the half. As the second half of play began, Westlake would get on the board with 4 unanswered points by Hosendove to go up 30-18.

As the quarter would continue, the Lions would maintain a 30-20 lead as the Hornets would eventually call timeout with 4:03 to go in the third quarter. Out of the timeout, the Lions and Hornets would exchange baskets but the Lions would still maintain a 34-25 lead as the quarter would come to an end. As the fourth quarter began, the Lions would add to their lead scoring 4 unanswered points to go up 38-25 and force the Hornets to use another timeout with just under 6 minutes to go in the fourth period. As play continued, the Lions would hold onto a 40-25 lead as the Westlake defense had shut the Hornet’s offensive production down but the Lion's head coach Hilda Hankerson would take a :30 timeout with 2:30 to go to talk things over with her girls. As play resumed, the Lion’s would score a couple more times and go on to win their opening round match up by a final score of 44-29. The Lions will face Duluth, who defeated Newton, in the second round.