The Alcovy boys varsity basketball team dropped its sixth game of the season Saturday on the road, falling 82-42 to Westlake in non-region play.
The Lions outscored the Tigers 43-19 in the second half, limiting Alcovy to nine points in the third quarter.
Greg Perry led the Tigers with 14 points, but Perry’s effort wasn’t enough to hand the Lions their first loss of the season.
With the loss, the Tigers dropped to 1-6 overall, while Westlake improved to 6-0, including a 4-0 mark at home.
“It was definitely a tough game for our guys,” Alcovy coach Jabari Levi said. “They were very athletic. Being new to the area, I wasn’t aware of their tradition, but when we came in and saw the banners, we realized the tradition we were facing. They were nothing but class.”
Alcovy went into the second period down by just 10, trailing the Lions 21-11 after the first quarter of play. Alcovy scored a game-high 12 points in the second quarter, but gave up 18 to Westlake, facing a 39-23 deficit at halftime.
The Lions turned up the defensive pressure in the third quarter, outscoring Alcovy 19-9 before finishing the contest with 24 points in the fourth quarter for the 40-point win.
“We couldn’t match their level of athleticism,” Levi said. “They had guys jumping out of the gym. They were a very tough team, but our guys went out there and played hard and competed.”
Levi said the match-up wasn’t a good one for the Tigers, who struggled against the Lions’ height.
"They were just bigger,” he said. “It’s not a good match-up when your entire team is playing undersized. We have a lot of young guys earning playing time and they are learning by their mistakes. At this level, sometimes you have to go through that before you can understand it. There are definitely going to be growing pains, but the future is bright, and I’m excited to be helping the guys reach their goals.”
Levi said that despite the loss, he has seen improvement from the Tigers over their first seven games.
“We’re seeing little strides,” Levi said. “We are getting better at rebounding and our defense is improving. The biggest thing is trying to figure out where we can get points from. We don’t have a scorer who can go out and get 15 or 20 points a night easily. We have to continue to be aggressive defensively to create opportunities for us to score and not get bogged down in the half court.”
The Tigers return to action on Nov. 20 against Northside at the 2013 Houston County Chick-fil-A Bear Brawl at 4:30 p.m.
Girls falter
The Alcovy girls varsity basketball team also fell on the road to Westlake, dropping a 69-44 decision.
The loss drops the Lady Tigers to 2-7 overall.
The Lady Tigers return to action on Friday at Howard in the Middle GA Classic at 7 p.m.
