Westview girls beat Lexington

MARTIN — The early season barometer test went to the Westview Lady Chargers in a matchup with Lexington at the Thanksgiving Classic Saturday night, 47-32, behind nearly balanced scoring from the five Lady Charger starters and a hustling defense that led to several uncontested layups.

“I thought our defense was better tonight,” Westview coach Brian Haskins said. “We still missed a lot of easy opportunities to score but certainly we will get better at that.”

“Lexington is going to be a good basketball team and for us to come out and play the way we did should give us some confidence going forward.”

Sophomore Tasia Jones and senior Titi Vincent led Westview with 11 and 10 points respectively. Sophomore center Deja Graves added eight on several putbacks and junior guard Mary Katherine Tucker added nine points on three three's. Westview's other starter Lydia Pritchett added six.

“That was the best defensive game we have played this season but offensively we are still looking around not knowing for sure what to do,” Haskins added. “But I think it will come. We are still young and inexperienced in a lot of positions – talented but inexperienced.”

A defensive turnover-plagued first quarter left Westview up 8-6. Two 3-pointers from Tucker and a steal and layup from Vincent gave the Lady Chargers a 22-14 halftime lead.

Westview capitalized with several inside put-backs and transition layups from steals to open up their second half lead.

Brilee Bromley led Lexington with 10 points and Nabreyah Howard added eight for the Lady Tigers, who struggled on offense against Westview's taller and quicker lineup.

“I thought we did a pretty good job defensively, but we struggled offensively,” Lexington coach Bianca Thomas said. “They are very long and tall. I thought we played solid defensively but we just couldn't put the ball in the hole offensively.

“Coming up here, we played Dyer County yesterday and Westview today. They are two big early road tests for our team. We needed this. To get to where we want to be, we need to beat teams of this caliber. It was a big test for us and shows our strengths and weaknesses so hopefully we can build upon this.

“We have to work on our mindset. We have to have a stronger mentality and out-hustle and outwork people more.”

In earlier Thanksgiving Classic games Saturday, Dyer County's boys beat Bradford 75-51 and Obion Central's girls beat Halls 67-34.