It wouldn’t be surprising if the folks at Westside don’t want to see anybody in a Bridgeport jersey for a while.
Five days after the Lady Renegades fell to Bridgeport in the girls AA final, the WHS boys lost to the Indians in the quarterfinals of the state basketball tournament in Charleston on Thursday morning.
Bridgeport shot 87 percent (that is not a misprint) from the floor in the second half and went 31-39 at the foul line as the No. 6 seed Indians eliminated No. 3 Westside, 79-71.
An 18-5 run in the third quarter put Bridgeport (19-7) in front for good.
“We didn’t do a good job defensively of keeping them out of the paint,” said Renegades coach Nick Cook. “We didn’t rotate correctly, we didn’t take any charges.”
WHS had used a big 14-0 run of its own in the second quarter to build a 37-30 halftime lead.
Bridgeport was repeatedly able to drive into the lane for lay ups or draw fouls for free throws during the third period. The Indians had three three-point plays in two-plus minutes.
After falling behind by 48-42, Westside cut the margin to two on several occasions.
Justin Cogar (19 points, nine rebounds) had four straight field goals late in the third. The last, a seven-footer from the left side, cut it to 54-52.
A Levi Lambert trey early in the final quarter pulled WHS within 57-55, but the Renegades were never that close again.
Fouls were a big story in the game. The Renegades played long stretches of the second half without Lambert and also without center Jason Scarlett (12 points, 11 boards).
Cook observed that the despite the fouls being closely called, his club “isn’t going to change who we are. When you see how it’s being called, you just have to adjust.”
“When he was in there, it was hard to get inside,” said the Indians’ Tyler Sprouse.
LIke their girls team, the Indians were deadly in that meekest form of basketball offense: the foul shot. They were 14-17 at the stripe in the last four-plus minutes.
Cogar, Corey Bowles (14), Scarlett and Lambert (11) paced the WHS scoring.
Senior Jordan Haywood had a career-high 28 for Bridgeport.
“He did what a senior is supposed to do, he led us,” stated Indians coach Gene Randolph.
Chase Robey scored 13, followed by Ryan Sprouse (11) and Tyler Sprouse (10).
Westside finishes the season at 19-7.
“We got a taste of what it is like,” Cook remarked. “Now they just need to get back to work so they won’t feel like this next year.”
Game notes: It was the first time all year that Westside lost when scoring 70 or more points.
Photo: Westside coaches talk to their players between the third and fourth quarters at Thursday’s state tournament game in Charleston.






