Lexington wins again
Wed. February 22, 2012 at 11:46 p.m. | By Mike Duprez
Lexington’s C.J. Woodberry (middle) battles East Lincoln’s Javahn Tyson-Bryant (12) and Tyler Brock (second from right) for a rebound during their second-round 2-A state playoff game Wednesday night. (Photo by Mike Duprez/The Dispatch)
Lexington has a roster full of players who can get hot on any given night. Sometimes they can get hot at different times within the same game.
Keith Horton scored 17 points, his twin brother Kevin Horton scored 11 points, C.J. Woodberry had 10 points and reserve forward Kris Bradley made several crucial defensive plays in the fourth quarter as Lexington turned away stubborn East Lincoln 62-57 in the second round of the 2-A state playoffs Wednesday night.
This one wasn’t as close as the Monday night win over Thomasville but the Jackets never led by more than 12 and had to hold off a Mustang rally in the fourth quarter.
“They were a very competitive team — athletic, fast, pretty strong,” said Lexington coach Robert Hairston. “They did a good job, some things that I liked. They were well-coached.”
Lexington (16-10) will travel to King to face West Stokes, a 54-41 winner over Salisbury, in the third round Friday night.
It took some scrappy play by the Jackets, with Bradley seemingly around every loose ball, in the fourth quarter to get the opportunity to advance.
The Jackets led 50-39 with 6:40 left after Keith Horton hit his ninth 3-pointer of the playoffs. But the Jackets had scant time to be comfortable as the Mustangs reeled off six unanswered points.
Woodberry came right back with a short jumper. On the other end, Bradley outfought the Mustangs for a rebound and fired an outlet pass while lying on his back to Woodberry, who hit a 15-footer to stretch Lexington’s lead to 54-45 with 3:47 left.
But the Mustangs (13-15) still weren’t done. A layup by 6-foot-6 sophomore center Charlie Hills, who scored 12 points, cut the lead to 55-49 with 2:15 left.
Lexington kept missing shots but Bradley kept hustling. On two straight possessions, the Mustangs lost the ball out of bounds when Bradley knocked the ball off one of their players. And then Bradley snared an offensive rebound when Keith Horton missed the front end of a 1-and-1. None of that resulted in points but it cost East Lincoln valuable time.
Bradley, who spent most of the season at the bottom of Hairston’s rotation, had four rebounds and three steals in the period.
“I just had to work and keep on playing,” Bradley said. “The coaches knew I could play better than what I had been doing. I just had to keep pushing myself.”
What Bradley did was needed because Antwaine McLean, who had a game-high 16 points, hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 57-52 and Hills got it down to 58-54 on a layup with 40 seconds remaining.
Keith Horton hit two free throws with 29.5 seconds left and the Jackets could finally exhale. The final margin was closer when East Lincoln’s Tyler Brock hit a 3-pointer right before the horn.
“We just didn’t make foul shots,” said East Lincoln coach Neil Hodges. “When you don’t make foul shots and you don’t get enough stops, you don’t win. It was an up-and-down game and I thought it was officiated very well.”
What worked well enough for Lexington was all the production from various players. Mikal Lewis had eight points and Mel Covington hit a pair of free throws in the final minute. Kevin Horton scored eight of his points in the first quarter when Lexington got off to a sluggish start.
“The further we get in the playoffs, the better we’ll be because you don’t know who to guard,” Hairston said. “You don’t know who to key on. If the guys continue to work on getting better, I think we’ll be okay.”
East Lincoln briefly led by a point twice in the second quarter before the Jackets used a 9-1 run to take the lead for good. It was 31-26 at halftime and 47-37 after three quarters.
Mike Duprez can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 218 or mike.duprez@the-dispatch.com.