Westside defense shines in low-scoring affair as Seminoles defeat North Murray 44-31 in first round of 2A tourney

Making only two shots in a quarter is troubling for any team on any level. When Westside did it in the third quarter of a playoff game, making only a pair of shots and missing 12 of them, things might have seemed grim.

Luckily for the Seminoles, it turned out alright.

No. 11 Westside held No. 22 North Murray to a 1-for-12 quarter at the same time, keeping the Mountaineers from any rally en route to a 44-31 win Wednesday night in the first round of the GHSA Class 2A boys state tournament.

The Seminoles improved to 18-9 and will head to North Georgia to face No. 6 Union County, an 87-61 winner over Pierce County in their opening round game.

“How long did we go in the third quarter before we scored,” head coach Josh Grube said after the game. “I think we went four or five minutes.”

The ‘Noles had made it about six minutes into the quarter without scoring when Joshua Harden banked in a runner, more than a minute after North Murray’s Garrison Pittman hit one of two from the line.

The fourth quarter was only a little better with the teams combining for 12 points, twice as many as in the third quarter.

The good news for Westside was the first half.

The Mountaineers enticed the Seminoles to be quick on the draw by hitting from outside, nailing five first-quarter 3-pointers. Westside countered with four long-range makes of their own, though they were not necessarily the shots Grube wanted.

“If a team plays zone, you should never take a contested shot,” he said. “We took too many of them at times, and I thought early in the game, we settled for too many threes.

“They invited us to shoot them, and of course, we took them.”

It was enough to put them on top 18-17 after one, though, and a 9-4 stretch in the second quarter expanded that lead to 27-21 with 3:11 left. 

Jalen Whitley then hit a three before Christian Little added a layup in a minute span, giving the Seminoles some control and a 32-23 lead entering halftime.

North Murray — running an active motion offense with screens and some cutting — cooled off, scoring only twice in the final 4:41.

Then things came to a screeching halt for both teams.

North Murray (13-14) scored on its fifth possession of the third quarter on a backdoor cut and added a free throw a minute later.

The Seminoles missed their first 10 shots, including some high-percentage tries, but broke through on their 10^th possession at the 1:58 mark.

Harden’s three points in that 15-second span made it a 37-26 game with 1:23 left in the third, as the Mountaineers failed to score in the final 3:15.

Grube exhorted his players during second-half timeouts to shoot with confidence because the Seminoles were having such a rough go of it. He wanted more execution of the offense and less listening to suggestions from anyone besides him.

North Murray was still getting good looks but couldn’t connect — the Mountaineers did not hit a three after that first quarter.

Beau Ellis led North Murray with 11 points. JD Ellis made two first-quarter threes but managed only a bucket and two free throws the rest of the way.

Harden, who received a plaque before the game for scoring 1,000 career points, scored 22 on the night, including nine on 3-pointers. He had 15 rebounds.

Little added 10 points.

“I like that Christian Little sucked it up,” Grube said. “He’s not feeling well. I like that he gutted it out and tried to play for his teammates.”

Shooting woes aside, Grube was happy with plenty, starting with an active defense that got better after the first quarter.

“We knew coming into the game they ran some good sets, they shoot the three-ball really well, and we didn’t want them to get off to that fast start… We played hard defensively,” Grube said. “I thought for the most part, other than a couple slip-ups when we didn’t communicate, I’m really proud of the defense.”

The Seminoles took better shots but still struggled to make them. That didn’t bother Grube all that much, with other bright spots.

“Alex Butts, a sophomore, has really come on, is playing some really good minutes,” said Grube, who picked up his 300^th win — all at Westside — a little more than a month ago. “Brandon Hill, he’s not going to do anything that shows up in the stats, but a lot of times, he’s guarding their best player, and he’s going to get some hustle plays.

“I thought everybody that played did some good stuff.”