Iowa drowns Westlake by raining down 3-pointers
Published 7:00 pm Saturday, February 27, 2021
- Photo Credit
Damian Juneau, Special to the American Press
IOWA — The 14th-seeded Iowa Yellow Jackets started quick and held on for a 69-58 win over the 19th-seeded Westlake Rams Friday night in a Class 3A bi-district playoff game.
Iowa advanced to the regional playoff round in which it will visit No. 3 Carroll on Tuesday night. Carroll eliminated Lake Charles College Prep 54-37.
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Iowa jumped on Westlake early in the first quarter taking a 12-3 advantage with 4:13 to play behind two 3-pointers from Crajuan Bennett. Iowa knocked down five 3-pointers in the first quarter, leading to a 27-13 lead.
“We were hot at the 3-point line in the first quarter from Crajuan Bennett and Landon Langley hitting those five 3-pointers,”Iowa head coach Rob Melanson said. “We didn’t do a good job after that with our shots falling. The first quarter we came out on fire and we built that big lead and never quit.”
The Yellow Jackets used a 7-0 run from the end of the first quarter through the first minute of the second to take a 31-13 lead. The Rams fought back and cut the Yellow Jackets lead to 35-24 after a Jamaal Guillory basket with 1:26 to play in the second quarter. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Rams 15-14 in the second quarter to take a 42-27 halftime advantage.
Novan Gray scored the first nine points of the third quarter for Westlake to cut the Iowa lead to 46-36 with 4:06 to play. Iowa went on a 5-2 run to extend its lead to 51-38 with 51 seconds to play. Westlake outscored Iowa 15-9 in the third quarter, but Iowa held on to a 51-42 lead going into the final quarter.
The Yellow Jackets jumped on the Rams early in the fourth quarter to take a 58-43 lead with 4:50 to play. The Rams answered with a 9-2 run behind seven points from Guillory to cut the Yellow Jackets lead to 60-52 with 2:47 to play. The Yellow Jackets closed the game by making 6 of 8 free throws down the stretch.
Curtis Deville and Bennett led Iowa with 12 points apiece.
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Westlake was led by Guillory who finished with 27 points. Travon Gray added 10 points.
Kirk Meche / Special to the American Press
