Wooddale cruises past Bolivar Central, will face Covington next

<p>Junior guard/forward <strong>Johnathan</strong> <strong>Lawson</strong> is no stranger to playing in big games. He embraces the cheers, along with the boos from the opposing team.</p> <p>The spotlight doesn’t scare Lawson. He seems to take his game up a notch, especially when a good ball is very reachable.</p> <p>Lawson’s game went up two more notches Tuesday night in Wooddale’s dominating 107-71 win over Bolivar Central in the semifinals round of the Class AA West Regional Tournament.</p> <p>It was close for the entire first quarter and part of the second quarter until Lawson got going. He knocked down back-to-back 3s from deep to put the Cardinals up 27-17. He knocked down two more 3s in the second quarter as Wooddale built a 57-33 lead.</p> <p>In the third quarter, the Cardinals let loose and started to throw a party. Lawson and junior guard <strong>Jalen</strong> <strong>Brown</strong> each had one-handed dunks on the break. Senior guard <strong>Kevin</strong> <strong>Brown</strong> hit guard <strong>Dee</strong> <strong>Bennett</strong> twice for alley-oops.</p> <p>Kevin Brown also went behind his back between defenders before his behind-the-back pass hit Bennett for the uncontested layup.</p> <p>Wooddale simply had fun, realizing it had a big lead and it was well on its way to another game in the regional tournament.</p> <p>“My dad said ‘First one to 100 wins, so that’s what we were trying to do, get to 100,’” said Lawson, who finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. “We just wanted to get that dub.”</p> <p>The Cardinals had a balanced night offensively. <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jalen-brown-2/">Jalen Brown</a> finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Junior wing <strong>Santerrio</strong> <strong>Brown</strong> and Kevin Brown finished with 15 and 10, respectively.</p> <p>Hopefully, Wooddale will play with the same fire on Thursday night when it hosts Covington, which defeated Fayette Ware, 79-53, in the first game Tuesday night. Like the defending Class AA state champs, the Chargers had similar success. Covington’s frontcourt of senior forward <strong>Brandon</strong> <strong>Alston</strong> and <strong>TyJuan</strong> <strong>Smith</strong> controlled the paint and got any shot, dunk or layup they wanted.</p> <p>The backcourt was led by senior guard <strong>Martez</strong> <strong>Logan</strong>, who knocked down three shots from deep late in the second quarter to help the Chargers build a 42-23 halftime lead.</p> <p>Smith led Covington with 21 points. Logan added 15 and senior guard <strong>Travonte</strong> <strong>Powell</strong> provided 10. The Chargers play physical and scrappy. They also like to get out in transition for dunks.</p> <p>Lawson realizes that his teammates will have to be mindful to not allow Covington to get easy scores.</p> <p>“We just have to play together and play like we did today and come out with a victory,” the Class AA Mr. Basketball finalist said.</p>