Westwood’s finish was much better than its start.
The Rebels looked out of synch in falling behind Central Lyon 10-0, but they settled in, played outstanding defense in the final minutes and pulled out a 35-32 victory to complete the Class 2A quarterfinals.
Addy Johnson sank two free throws to put her team ahead with 57.2 seconds left, then made two more after grabbing a key rebound to secure the victory and keep her team unbeaten. She finished 7-for-8 at the line and led the third-seeded Rebels with 11 points.
Johnson also grabbed nine rebounds and made four steals. Brenna Johnson added 10 points, five rebounds and five steals for the winners, while Cate Drees scored eight. Ella Hanner scored only two points, but the 5-foot-2 senior came up with three steals, the biggest coming with 1:05 left and leading to Johnson’s go-ahead free throws.
Desta Hoogendoorn led sixth-seeded Central Lyon with 11 points and nine rebounds. Danika Hoogendoorn added 10 points and five rebounds and Aubrey Metzger collected 12 rebounds to go with three points.
Central Lyon’s early burst led to a 16-9 lead after the first quarter and the Lions went up 22-11 when Alexis Davis hit a 3-pointer midway through the second quarter. But the Lions would struggle to score from that point on and Westwood clawed its way back into it.
Central Lyon led 25-21 at halftime and went up 32-27 when Desta Hoogendoorn buried a 3 from the top of the key with 5:22 left. The Lions did not score again and Westwood did just enough to win it.
Ashlyn Davis scored on a slick turnaround in the low post to cut the lead to 32-31 with 1:16 left. Hanner stole the ball 11 seconds later and Johnson drew a foul, making both shots for a 33-32 lead.
Johnson grabbed the rebound when Central Lyon missed a 3-point shot and dropped in her final free throws with 22.3 seconds remaining. The Lions had plenty of time to tie it, but a shot from behind the arc missed everything and the ball bounced out of bounds with just 1.2 seconds on the clock.
Westwood, in the tournament for just the second time, will take a 22-0 record into a semifinal game against second-seeded Panorama at 11:45 a.m. Friday. Central Lyon finished with a 20-4 record.