WEST FORK — WEST FORK — West Fork’s players attacked the basket, were aggressive on defense and could do no wrong over the first few minutes against Cedarville.
Not long after the hometown crowd found its seats inside the Tiger Dome, West Fork had built a double-digit lead by scoring the first 12 points in Friday’s 3A-1 West District Championship Game.
The hot shooting didn’t last, however.
For all the baskets the Tigers made early on, they couldn’t get many to fall in the second half of a 45-37 loss to Cedarville — especially with several of their top scorers forced to sit on the bench after fouling out.
“They played really good defense, but we had a lot of shots that rattled in and out, rolled off the front that we normally hit,” West Fork boys basketball coach David Ferrell said. “That’s as cold as we’ve been probably all year for a half, but give Cedarville credit.
“I mean, they did a great job defensively.”
Tyler Mowrey scored a game-high 17 points to help Cedarville (25-5) rally back from a 12-0 deficit in the first few minutes of the game. And as much as West Fork tried, there was little it could do offensively to avoid a second home loss to the Pirates this season.
The Tigers (24-5) went into halftime with a 31-26 lead, but managed only six points in the second half — including just two in the third quarter on a layup by Leon Beasley. They went scoreless for nearly 10 minutes over the third and fourth quarters.
“As high as we were, we went just about as flat,” Ferrell said. “I mean, give them a lot of credit the second half. Defensively they did a great job, but man, we had a ton of shots.
“We just couldn’t make one.”
Beasley led West Fork with 15 points, and his team was still within striking distance of taking the lead in the fourth quarter. But that changed after a sequence midway through the fourth quarter when Beasley fouled out and Cedarville went to the free-throw line after Ferrell was given a technical foul.
West Fork will face Lavaca at 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the Class 3A Region 1 Tournament, in Paris.
“They came out with tremendous energy. They were attacking the rim on offense, real aggressive and getting out in passing lanes defensively,” Cedarville coach Andrew Tencleve said of West Fork. “They did a good job, got to the rim and made some shots, and we came out and did not match it at all.
“Luckily for us, we woke up before it was too late.”
CEDARVILLE 45, WEST FORK 37
Cedarville 8 18 7 12 — 45
West Fork 14 17 2 4 — 37
Cedarville (25-5): Mowrey 17, Bradford 11, Parson 8, C. Fincher 6, E. Fincher 2, Myers 1.
West Fork (24-5): Beasley 15, DeSoto 11, Ferrell 7, Hoornaert 2, Wingate 2.