Cardinals Fly Over Wolves

RIVALRY STILL GOING STRONG

On my way to Butler Stadium, it occurred to me this would be the tenth season I have watched battles between Westside and Bellaire. Having ties to both schools, one daughter played at Bellaire, the other Westside, I have come to expect excitement. When the rivalry began, Madison was the team to beat and these two fought it out for second place however over the last seven years, the tide has shifted and one of the two have won district and both have made Regional Finals twice over the last five seasons. Both schools have had numerous kids to go on and play at the next level, in fact junior Jasmine Hartman (Bellaire) is playing at Oklahoma, who made it to the Final Four the past two seasons and my daughter, senior Sydney Colson(Westside), is in her final season at Texas A&M, currently ranked #5 in the country. This season, both teams have kids with names you may remember. Bellaire’s Bianca Winslow is the daughter of former Yates and Phi Slamma Jamma star Ricky Winslow while Westside’s Tiffany Davis dad Emanuel played in the NBA for a few seasons, including two with the Houston Rockets.

This game started out sluggish, with plenty of turnovers and air balls,however things heated up halfway into the quarter and it didn’t cool off for the rest of the game. Bellaire jumped out to a13-5 lead after the first quarter as AJ Alix and Winslow scored 11 of Bellaire’s 13. Rachel Cumbo got hot for Westside in the second quarter as Westside closed the gap, however Alix continued to be on as she finished the half with 13 points and her team up 26-24. Both teams were in the double bonus and one thing about the Wolves is they don’t give up. Alix started the second half like she did in the first half, however she and Raven Burns both picked up their fourth foul and it appeared the Cardinals were heading for trouble as the Wolves cut the lead to three.

Freshman Lulu McKinney then stepped up, scoring the last 5 points of the quarter and extending the lead to 8 going into the final quarter. Alix fouled out the last quarter but the Cardinals couldn’t get within four as the game ended 47-40. Alix led all scorers with 19 while Winslow scored 13 for the Cardinals. Rachel Cumbo, Jamilya Deboise and  Davis led the Wolves with 8 points each.