MOORE — After blowout victories in the first two rounds of the Newcastle Tournament, the Westmoore found themselves in a battle in the title game. It took two overtimes, but the Jaguars fell short to Blanchard 68-65 Saturday.
Westmoore took Blanchard to double overtime, but was unable to finish them off.
“Saturday was a tough loss,” Westmoore coach Scott Hodges said. “Blanchard played a great game and we struggled on both ends of the floor. We’ve got to get a lot tougher on the defensive end. We basically let two guys beat us and we couldn’t get stops when we needed too. They are a really good team though and we give them a lot of credit for playing better than us. We will get back to practice and work on some stuff and we will be ready to go this week.”
Trey Ayala and Tripp Fuller were named to the All Tourney team. Ayala had 28 in the championship game and Dillion Thompson added 18 points.
“We played extremely hard this weekend in Newcastle,” Hodges said. “We competed and played together, we just didn’t make enough plays in that Championship game. One thing I love about this team is their will to win. I never question how much these guys want to succeed. As long as we keep competing and making strides as a team, I like our chances the rest of the season into the playoffs. We are a group that has overcome some adversity and we always play hard with good attitudes. That’s something we really stress every day.”
The Jaguars responded Tuesday with an impressive 73-56 win over Del City. Thompson and Fuller led the charge with 24 points each.
With Southmoore and Norman North up next, Hodges is looking for his team to keep improving with only a few games left.
“This is a big week for us,” Hodges said. “All I want to see from us is for us to keep competing, executing, and doing things the right way.”
