by Clancey Cleveland & PHOTOS, Rob Morris
Dec 06, 2011

The game had physical written all over it right out of the starting gate. Just like every Moore War before it, this game had the makings of one to be remembered.

 

Both teams had big presence down low. Moore’s 6’7” senior Alex Black has prime positioning to grab some boards. He pulled down seven on the night. Fellow forward, junior Dorian Gigger can jump out of the building, which he displayed with a block in the second quarter.

 

Westmoore matched up with Moore with big men of their own. Beau Palmer (8 pts, 4 rbds, 1 ast) and Tripp Fuller (17 pts, 5 rbds) provide valuable height and power down low.

 

“We’ve got really, really good post players,” Head Coach Scott Hodges said. “We feel like we can play with anyone in the post. We didn’t give them to them as much as we’d like to in the first half. But we made some adjustments and started running more set plays to them and they did well. I was really proud of them.”

 

Showing up wherever needed was Westmoore’s Austin Bowling (10 pts, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 rbd). Bowling can shoot the three, be a key defender, and make plays happen - whatever his team needs, Coach Hodges said Bowling will do.

 

“He’s kind of that do it all guy for us,” Coach Hodges said. “Every team needs a role player like that. He’s kind of the glue that holds us together.”

 

Monday, Coach Hodges told Moore Monthly that Moore War games usually go down to the last seconds. This one was no exception.

 

The Lions were the first on the board, and free throws were key in keeping them close in the game. Junior point guard Maurice Davenport made 14 shots of the 18 times he stood at the line (78%).

 

In the third quarter the momentum shifted to Moore as they brought the game to within three points. Here Coach Hodges called a much-needed timeout where he told his team to “stop playing selfish.”

 

The Jaguars must have listened as the fourth quarter was a battle. Both teams played fundamental team basketball with extra intensity.

 

In the end it was Westmoore who went away with the win, 57-51. The Moore Lions basketball team has nothing to hang their heads about though; they’ve got talent and skill enough to win plenty of ball games.

 

“It was typical Moore War,” Hodges said. “We know every game is going to be like this. We got to give them credit; they made big shots. We just did enough to get the W.”