Westside outlasts Rutland with 20-point fourth quarter in key 57-44 region win

In a rivalry game littered with fouls and shooting woes, the Westside Seminoles got past a cold start to outlast the Rutland Hurricanes 57-44 in GHSA Region 2-2A play Friday night.

Both teams got frustrated at times with players in foul trouble — Westside’s Christian Little, a star player, had two fouls within the first few minutes and had to sit for a bit because of it — but the Seminoles ultimately shot better from the field than Rutland, which could not find any rhythm.

“We definitely didn’t start fast at all, of course it was our fourth game in four days. Not here to make excuses, but maybe some of that showed up early. Rutland came out very aggressive in that 1-3-1, it’s been a while since we’ve seen that,” Westside head coach Josh Grube said. “We made some adjustments and coached them through it. I really feel like that second quarter, we really flipped the game a little bit.”

Rutland got out to a 13-6 lead early, but Grube was right — the second quarter turned everything around, as the Seminoles got some momentum with layups in transition by Josh Harden and company to make up the deficit and then some. 

The Hurricanes went cold shooting at the exact same time, airing it out from three-point range but failing to knock them down to score only five points in the second quarter. Westside took a 23-18 advantage to the half as a result.

“I’m pleased with the effort, but you’re never pleased with the result with a loss,” Rutland head coach Charles Gordon. “But the guys kept fighting. That meant a lot and that’s something we want to see continue as we get into postseason play.”

The ‘Canes fought indeed. The Seminoles started the half hot and stretched their lead to as high as 13 in the third quarter, but Rutland got some important foul shots and a few big shots from Keadon Knight to cut it down to a five-point margin. 

Harden and fellow senior Jatavion Zellner proved too much, though, as Westside used a 20-point fourth quarter to pull away for good. Harden led his team and the floor with 20 points and had some key rebounds. Zellner followed with 14.

“It’s hard to pick a player of the game without looking at the film, but Jatavion does everything for us, lots of little things that don’t always show up on the score sheet,” Grube said. “He was out there making a difference for us tonight. Ever since we’ve gotten him in as a transfer he’s made an impact for us scoring, taking the charges, rebounding, all that stuff.”

Knight led his team with 16 points, while big man Nicholas Shines added nine points.

“At this point in the season, you’re trying to build momentum. These last games we’ve been competing, and that’s something you want to see,” Gordon said. “I’m telling them, you want to play, you don’t go crying about calls. You have to just play the game. You’re never going to be satisfied with all the calls, so you got to get guys to stay the course and not become frustrated.”

Both teams committed a hefty amount of fouls to put each other in the bonus regularly, much to the chagrin of the coaches. 

“It’s tough, because it seemed like we were in the bonus and had a bunch called on us, but you fight through it regardless. It’s a heated rivalry, it’s two schools from Macon, and it’s a region game, so it’s important,” Grube said. “There’s a lot of emotion, both teams want to win. It’s a good, clean rivalry.”

Westside moved to 14-7 overall for the year and 7-1 in the region. The ‘Noles have now won nine of their last ten games, even after a brutal stretch following weather delays last week that pushed games back.

“Our goal was to go 4-0 in our long week this week with the rescheduled games. It wasn’t always pretty, but I have to remind myself, it’s still a win. Did we do everything perfect? No, but we still went 4-0,” Grube said. “So we’re still fighting for that top seed in the region, and we put ourselves in a good position, if we beat Jackson next week, then we’ll be able to play for the No. 1 seed against Morgan County.”

That game Feb. 8 will be on the road for Westside, their last game of the regular season.

The Hurricanes fell to 8-13 overall and 3-5 in the region. They round out their schedule with a home game against region powerhouse Morgan County Saturday before traveling to Pike County to close out the regular season Feb. 4.