Jackets bolt past Bulldogs

Wed. February 15, 2012 at 11:21 p.m. | By Jason Queen

Lexington's Marcus Eason glides past a Thomasville defender to score on a layup during their game Wednesday night at West Davidson. (Photo by Donnie Roberts/The Dispatch)

TYRO | For a team that had absolutely nothing to play for, Lexington looked awfully good Wednesday night.

Brushing aside the fact that it has the Central Carolina Conference’s top seed when the 2-A playoffs open next week, the Jackets raced to a huge lead early and never looked back in a rousing 88-41 drubbing of Thomasville in the CCC tournament semifinals at West Davidson. The Jackets advanced to the finals at 7:30 p.m. Friday at West, and they will face the winner of tonight’s Central Davidson-Salisbury matchup.

Whoever emerges to face the Jackets better have their track shoes on. Lexington opened Wednesday’s game on a 14-1 run, then, after Thomasville settled down and got within 19-11, erupted on a 23-2 explosion that buried the Bulldogs.

It left Thomasville coach Tony Clark with only one conclusion. “We just got blasted,” Clark conceded. “There’s nothing else I can say.

“We’ve just got a young team and Lexington came out … I don’t know if last night we were satisfied with beating West (Davidson in the first round of the CCC tournament). Maybe that was just it.”

The Jackets were only satisfied when they were running the floor and attacking the basket, which they did at will against the Bulldogs. Up 23-11 early in the second quarter, the Jackets scored three straight fast-break buckets. Lock McLean broke loose, then Mikal Lewis went coast-to-coast after a steal. Moments later, Lewis fed C.J. Woodberry for the first of his two alley-oop dunks, and the rout was on.

Lexington coach Robert Hairston was glad to see his team’s aggressiveness on offense, but he can always find room for improvement. “I think we showed a good effort for a while there,” Hairston said. “But I saw a lot of things we must improve on.
“I want to see them fly in the other direction on defense and rebounding.”

Those things didn’t factor into this matchup, which was over early. Woodberry scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, and the Jackets led 46-16 at the break. Lexington, which went unbeaten during conference play, was never challenged in the second half.

McLean added 13 points for the Jackets, who moved to 14-9 with the win. Keith Horton added 12 points, and Lewis chipped in 11.
Quanny Johnson led Thomasville (5-15) with 12 points, and Malik Peterson came off the bench to knock in 10.

Jason Queen can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 220 or jason.queen@the-dispatch.com.