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On Tuesday night, Westwood played host to North Franklin at Joel Vinson Gymnasium with the Lady Rockets and Rockets both picking up season-opening wins.

Westwood Lady Rockets

North would have the edge in the first quarter, as five different Gatorette players scored in the opening frame to help edge in front of Westwood 10-7, with Maci Jackson scoring all seven points in the quarter for the Lady Rockets.

Westwood could not seem to get their offense in gear in the second quarter, as North outscored them 8-5 to rack up an 18-12 halftime lead.

The Lady Rockets came out flying out of the halftime break, scoring 17 points in the third quarter, including five free throw makes from Zallona Dillard, four points from Amelia Johnson, three points each from Maci Jackson and Jerzee Ferrell and two from Carter Trail to help Westwood assume a 29-22 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Westwood outscored North 14-5 in the final frame and cruised to a 43-27 win.

“It’s a new team and a new year,” said Coach Shala Ferrell. “Even though we had several eighth graders starting, we’re still a pretty young team. We talked calmly at halftime about what we did good and what we did bad, and their effort in the third quarter was A-plus for sure. I’m proud of them.”

Coach Ferrell believes that this year’s team is tougher after struggling to win last season.

“I feel like they’re grittier and more coachable than last year,” she said. “Taking some of those losses last year will make you grittier. No one likes to lose. They’re a good group of kids and they’re definitely trying very hard to do what I ask of them.”

Box Score:

North Franklin Gatorettes (27)

Hallie Crenshaw 9, Vivian Baggett 5, Hadley Jolley 4, Aubrey Eslick 3, Bailey Benson 3, Amiray Johnson 2, Rylee Owens 1

Westwood Lady Rockets (43)

Maci Jackson 12, Jerzee Ferrell 9, Zallona Dillard 9, Amelia Johnson 6, Allee Wilmore 4, Carter Trail 2, Makenzie Meacham 1

Westwood Rockets

In the boys game, the Rockets flew to a quick start, shutting out the Gators 10-0 in the first quarter with Isaiah Buchanan scoring five of Westwood’s 10 first quarter points.

The Gators would make it a game in the second quarter, scoring 14 points against Westwood’s nine, but the Rockets still held a 19-14 lead heading into the halftime break.

Westwood opened things back up in the third, with Buchanan adding six more points to his total and the Rockets outscoring the Gators 12-5 to pile up a 31-19 lead heading into the fourth.

Each team would only manage six points apiece in the final frame and Westwood held on for a 37-25 win.

“I was proud of them,” said Coach Anita Gannon. “We still have a lot of things to work on. Tonight was the first game, so they had to get those first game jitters out. We had two eighth graders that had never played in a game-like situation like this, so we were trying to break it in for them. We started off good, then we let off and let the other team make some threes. Other than that, I was proud of them tonight.”

Coach Gannon also believes that her team could improve upon one important aspect.

“Confidence,” she replied. “They need to believe in themselves the way that we (the coaches) believe in them. They just have to go out and get that ‘we can’t be stopped’ mentality.”

Box score:

North Franklin (25)

Grant Parkenson 9, Conner Worley 8, Ty Worley 3, William Oglesby 3, Dylan Stovall 2

Westwood (37)

Isaiah Buchanan 14, Trenton Tanner 8, Hayes Shemwell 6, Cayden Campbell 4, Brock Christian 3, Kingslee Miller 2

Westwood will travel to Tullahoma West for their next game on Thursday, Oct. 17 with the varsity girls game tipping off at 6 p.m.