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.
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.
Westlake was led by Guillory who finished with 27 points. Travon Gray added 10 points.
Kirk Meche / Special to the American Press
