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Sports

Titans Fall to West Springfield 64-50

Norman's 16 points still not enough to carry T.C. Williams to victory

The West Springfield girls basketball team defeated T.C. Williams 64-50 on Friday night at Lake Braddock High School to win the 2011 Patriot District title. West Springfield completed a 2011 sweep of the Titans, winning all three games this season.

T.C. Williams’ Johnee Lewis scored the game’s first points, garnering loud approval from the Titans fans in attendance. West Springfield’s April Robinson answered back with a two-point field goal of her own. Both schools traded baskets in a physical first quarter, which resulted in eight fouls called against T.C. Williams.

Taking advantage of T.C. Williams’ mishaps, West Springfield led 19-15 at the end of the first quarter.

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The two teams started the second quarter with impressive defensive efforts. West Springfield blocked several shots from the Titans, which keyed an 8-0 run from the Spartans.

The Titans then made the necessary adjustments and closed the gap late in the quarter. As the last second ran off the clock, T.C. Williams’ Gabby Moss made a half-court shot. But it didn’t count, as the clock expired before the ball left her hands.

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West Springfield went into the locker room with a 29-24 lead.

The third quarter was West Springfield’s from start to finish. Following some words at halftime from coach Bill Gibson, the Spartans put together one of their best performances of the season.

“We talked about it and worked on some zone against them,” Gibson said. "We started off and scored two buckets, and once we got that 12-point lead, I said 'Let’s go zone now and make them do something.' And [T.C. Williams] sort of froze on it, I think.”

The Spartans dominated every category on the stat sheet in the third quarter. The team went on a 15-point run before T.C. Williams scored a point, which came on a free throw with just 55 seconds left in the quarter. The Titans were menaced and harassed on offense, having at least five of their shot attempts blocked in the quarter. At the end of three, West Springfield held a 46-26 lead.

An attempt at a fourth-quarter comeback from the Titans was unsuccessful. The reality was realized when Titans leader Gabby Moss fouled out of the game with three minutes left. 

Following the loss, T.C. Williams coach Kesha Walton remarked, “I’m very proud of my girls. We came into the tournament ranked third and we proved that we were better than that. We were really excited about the opportunity to play in the championship tonight. Fouls really hurt us as well as free throws, so we have to improve on that. … We knew coming in that we had to play smart. We played hard." 

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