West Morgan edges Clements in ranked showdown

5 days ago 1

Jan. 7—TRINITY — It was a battle of ranked teams Tuesday night, and West Morgan's girls came out on top.

The Class 4A, No. 10 Rebels took down Class 3A, No. 10 Clements 50-46, holding off a late comeback attempt in the process.

"We've been in a lot of battles with some good teams this season, so I felt like we were prepared for it," senior Chasity Rikard said.

After falling behind 8-1 in the first quarter, West Morgan took control, grabbing a 24-17 lead by halftime and leading 41-29 by the end of the third quarter.

Clements rallied, cutting the lead to four with three minutes to go and two with 40 seconds. The Rebels made the shots they needed to down the stretch, however, something head coach Bradley Willis said is a sign of the experience his team has gained throughout the last two seasons.

"To win big games, you have to play in big games to learn how to do it, and we've done a lot of that," Willis said. "We took a timeout at the three-minute mark when they cut it to four. I just told them that we needed someone to step up, and they responded."

Haniyah Standridge led West Morgan with 20 points and Rikard finished with 13. Juicy Farrar led Clements with 12 points, while Asiah Malone had 11.

For Clements, it was a frustrating night as the Colts comeback attempt fell short.

"I told them if we play as hard as we did at the end the whole game, then we'll be a tough team to beat at the end of the year," head coach Brad Newton said. "We didn't have our best stuff tonight because we had an area game that went down to the wire last night, but we kept fighting. I hate to lose, but you can't be upset when your kids fight like that."

For West Morgan, the Rebels are now 13-4. They've won five of their last six and have beaten two ranked teams in their last two wins.

"I feel like this is the best season we've had in a while," Rikard said. "I'm really excited about the future and what we can do in the rest of our games."

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West Morgan boys 77, Clements 74: West Morgan held off a late rally to secure its 12th win of the season Tuesday.

The Rebels led 64-54 going into the final quarter, but the Colts outscored them 20-13 before narrowly missing a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Landon Henderson, who was honored prior to the game for eclipsing 1,000 career points, led West Morgan with 20 points and Keelan Murphy added 19.

Grayson Borden led Clements with a game-high 29, while Jake Fleming finished with 20.

— caleb.suggs@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @CalebSuggs2

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