Facing a two-point deficit after three quarters, Westwood erupted for 21 fourth quarter points on Friday night en route to a 52-45 victory at Manistique.
The Emeralds jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held Westwood scoreless until the 4:42 mark in the opening quarter. The Patriots rallied and took the lead on two separate occasions but Manistique led 13-12 after the first frame.
Manistique‘s largest advantage in the first half was six points but Westwood answered with an 8-0 run to retake the lead. The Emeralds tied the game with a layup in the final minute of the half and the two teams went into the break knotted at 20-all.
Westwood went up by four midway through the third quarter but Manistique used an 11-3 run to take a 33-31 lead into the fourth. Tied 42-42 with under two minutes to play, Westwood scored back-to-back layups and didn’t trail for the rest of the night.
Nathan Beckman turned in a game-high 15 points while Ty Alderton added 14 and Blake Hewitt had 12 to lead three Patriots in double-figures. Westwood is now 9-4 and gets set to host Iron Mountain on Monday. The Patriots also won the junior varsity game 56-27 earlier in the evening.