Game Report: Gary West Side 56 East Chicago Central 47

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our tour through The Region brought us to West Side Leadership Academy on Thursday night to watch the Gary West Side Cougars take on the East Chicago Central Cardinals. This battle between rivals could have served as a preview of a Sectional 17 championship matchup.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>East Chicago Central got going first with a [player_tooltip player_id='2888361' first='Mekhi' last='Gillis'] three-point shot along with buckets from senior guards [player_tooltip player_id='1561120' first='Jamarie' last='Pollard'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2625504' first='Joseph' last='Watkins'] Jr. However, while the game went down to the wire, that 9-8 lead at the end of the first quarter would be the last for the Cardinals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>6'10" center [player_tooltip player_id='1560969' first='Tyler' last='Crews'] got a one to go inside and finished a couple of free throws in the second quarter for West Side. [player_tooltip player_id='1560970' first='Julian' last='Holmes'] also buried a three-point shot assisted by [player_tooltip player_id='1560995' first='Reggie' last='Hinton'] as the Cougars took a 23-16 lead into the half break. There was a bit of dust up as the buzzer sounded with some players spilling into the sideline and fans getting caught up in the words that were exchanged. Luckily, the situation was deescalated and all that came of it was one technical assessed to West Side.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The third quarter is where [player_tooltip player_id='1560995' first='Reggie' last='Hinton'] started to take over. He knocked in a pair of three-point shots, converted an And-1, and hit two other free throws while also impacting the game defensively. Hinton was a big part of opening up a 41-31 advantage for Gary West Side heading into the fourth quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>East Chicago Central did not go down quietly. [player_tooltip player_id='1561120' first='Jamarie' last='Pollard'] connected on a pair of three-point shots to keep the Cardinals in the game. A couple of pull-up jump shots by [player_tooltip player_id='2625504' first='Joseph' last='Watkins'] Jr. and a three from [player_tooltip player_id='2888361' first='Mekhi' last='Gillis'] were big as well. However, they could never get over the hump entirely and West Side held on to protect their home floor with a 56-47 victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Johnson C. Smith signee [player_tooltip player_id='1560995' first='Reggie' last='Hinton'] finished with a game-high 25 points and 6 rebounds for the Cougars. [player_tooltip player_id='1560970' first='Julian' last='Holmes'] added 9 points while 6'7" freshman center [player_tooltip player_id='3033269' first='Prentiss' last='Gates'] made a strong contribution off of the bench with 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the loss for East Chicago Central, senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2625504' first='Joseph' last='Watkins'] Jr. scored 14 points while classmate [player_tooltip player_id='1561120' first='Jamarie' last='Pollard'] had 11 points. Freshman Kehi Gillis added 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->