Little David Bailey stretched his 5-foot-4-inch, 135-pound body to the hilt in driving the lane against 6-9, 250-pound Lance Williams.
“He’s a monster,” Bailey, Westinghouse’s intrepid point guard, said of Julian’s dominant center. “I just shot the ball real high, because I knew he couldn’t jump high enough to block it.”
That moment, when David took Goliath to the hoop Thursday, symbolized Westinghouse’s 91-84 victory over Julian at Robeson in the third round of the Public League playoffs. Thirteenth-ranked Westinghouse (20-7) hit eight three-pointers and advances to next week’s quarterfinals against No. 1 Young (24-1).
“I’ve never seen Westinghouse shoot three-pointers like that before,” said Williams, who finished his high school career with a season-high 43 points. “We came out a little nervous, and they were pumped up. Plus, they were in better condition than we were, and that little David Bailey kept us running the whole game.”
An up-tempo pace and deadly outside shooting were Westinghouse’s only recourse against Williams, who seemingly scored at will. Neither 6-5 junior Bobby Sharp nor 6-3 Terrance Williams could stop the DePaul recruit inside.
Westinghouse led 24-14 after one quarter, but Williams, Watra Banks (21 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists) and Waitari Marsh (14 points, 12 assists) rallied No. 17 Julian (23-9) to a 40-39 lead at half.
It was close throughout the second half until Westinghouse went on a 13-2 run in the fourth quarter to seize an 84-73 lead. Terrance Williams led Westinghouse with 28 points and 10 rebounds while Bailey scored 24 points.
“Everybody was saying how we weren’t going to win–even people at school,” Bailey said. “But if we just run, run, run, pass the ball and play defense, I think we can beat almost anybody.”
Bob Sakamoto.
Young 79, Morgan Park 52: Cordell Henry scored 12 of his 24 points in the first quarter as the top-ranked Dolphins jumped to a 24-9 lead. Quentin Richardson added 12 points and eight rebounds and Najeeb Echols 11 points for Young (24-1). Brandon Mason totaled 15 points and 11 rebounds for Morgan Park (14-15).
Vocational 86, Crane 55: Lawrence Burnett scored 21 of his game-high 32 points in the first half as No. 14 Vocational opened a 46-23 halftime lead and cruised to the victory. Cliff Murkey added 22 points and David Williams 16 for the Cavaliers (25-4), who will play Simeon.
Prosser 71, Gage Park 40: Marcus Jordan scored 21 points and Marque Perry notched his second straight triple double with 14 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds to lead Prosser (16-12), which will next face King.
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King 94, Von Steuben 37: Anthony Johnson scored 15 of his 18 points in the second quarter and Leon Smith added 19 points to lead No. 3 King (26-4).
“Leon will make you give up,” said King coach Landon Cox. “He tore their hearts out early.”
Robeson 74, Steinmetz 53: Eric Crockrell scored 27 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Robeson. Janero Pargo added 17 for the Raiders (18-11). Crockrell had 13 of Robeson’s 24 points in the third quarter. Robeson will face DuSable.
DuSable 86, Sullivan 67: Theo Williams scored 26 points and Desmond Collins added 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead DuSable (22-6). DuSable, which advances to play Robeson, trailed 36-31 in the second quarter before scoring six unanswered points to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.