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Westwood Middle School spent the week of Jan. 9-14 competing in the Duck River Valley Conference Tournament against Forrest, Cascade. Thurman Francis, Eagleville, Community and Liberty. All games were held at Community Middle School. 

The Westwood Rockets started off Tuesday, Jan. 10 in a quarterfinal game against Forrest. The team won 44-39 meaning they progressed to a later semifinal. 

The first quarter ended with the Rockets falling just behind at 13-10. Matthew White, Kaysen Lowery and Keller Hatfield each scored in the early game. 

At halftime, the Rockets still fell behind 23-21 with points from White, Lowery and Hatfield. In the third quarter, the boys continued falling behind 31-29 with points from Gabe Hambly, Riley Evans, White and Hatfield. 

Finally, the Rockets managed to outscore Forrest pulling a 44-39 win with fourth quarter contributions from Isaiah Buchanan, Zeke Jones, White and Lowery. White led the team with 17 points followed by Lowery’s 10. This Rocket win guaranteed their next game in the semifinals against Cascade. 

The WMS Lady Rockets played the next day on Wednesday, Jan. 11 against Cascade in a semifinal game. The Westwood Lady Rockets received a first round BYE after undefeated conference play. 

The first quarter of the game ended 15-10 thanks to points from Jules Ferrell, Reece Finch and Kylie Evans. By halftime, the Lady Rockets pushed their lead to 35-18 scoring 20 points in the second quarter alone from Ferrell, Finch, Paisley Dyer, Bella VanZarndbergen, Zallara Dillard and Allison Russ. 

The third quarter saw Ferrell score 9 points with more added from Finch, Dyer, and VanZarndbergen pushing the Lady Rockets lead to 52-29. The game ended 62-32 with fourth quarter contributions from Ferrell and Finch. 

The Lady Rockets semifinal win scored them a chance in the Championship game against Community. 

The next day on Thursday, Jan. 12, Westwood boys took on Cascade in their semifinal game. The first quarter ended with WMS falling 10-6 with points from White and Lowery. In the second quarter, WMS got ahead 17-16 after White, Lowery, and Hatfield scored. 

The third quarter ended with Westwood extending their lead 32-26 thanks to Buchanan, Lowery, White and Hatfield.

The Rockets secured their place in the Championship game winning over Cascade 40-38 with point contributions from Buchanan and Lowery. 

The Championship games began Saturday, Jan. 13 with the girls followed by the boys game. 

The Lady Rockets faced off against Community, ending the first quarter 15-9 with points from Ferrell, Finch and VanZarndbergen. 

The second quarter saw Ferrell, Finch, and VanZarndbergen score again managing a 23-20 lead entering halftime. By the end of the third quarter, Westwood was ahead 35-28.

In the fourth quarter, saw Community begin to catch up. With 12 seconds left on the clock, Community’s Madisyn Hill scored putting Community up 38-37. It seemed like Community would take the DRVC Championship when Paisley Dyer shot Westwood’s only hope of winning– and she scored 2 more points with 2 seconds left on the clock winning WMS the DRVC Championship 39-38. 

The Westwood boys followed the girls in another Championship game against Eagleville. 

The first quarter saw 8 points thanks to Kaysen Lowery exclusively. Westwood fell behind 9-8 by the end of the first quarter. By halftime, Eagleville upped their lead 17-12 with points from White and Lowery. 

By the end of the third quarter, Eagleville continued to lead 25-20. Buchanan, White and Hatfield each scored in the third. By the end of the game, Westwood fell 37-34 in the Championship with points from Buchanan, Jones, White, and Lowery in the final quarter.​​ The Westwood Rockets received runner-up in the DRVC Tournament. 

After the conclusion of the boys Championship, DRVC awards were presented. DRVC All-Conference team members honored many Westwood players including Jules Ferrell, Reece Finch, Bella VanZandbergen, Kaysen Lowery, and Matthew White. 

The DRCV All-Tournament Team included Westwood players Jules Ferrell, Reece Finch, Paisley Dyer, Matthew White and Kaysen Lowery.