In a taut District 25-5A battle worthy of its ramifications, Westlake proved that it could win a game on either end of the court.

The high-scoring Chaps tallied 13 points less than their season average but still clawed out a 56-49 win over visiting Bowie to claim sole possession of first place in 25-5A.

“But it’s early,” Westlake coach Tres Ellis said with a laugh. “We have a lot of games to play still [in district], but we really got after it on defense tonight.”

With the win, No. 8 Westlake (21-4 overall, 6-0 in district) handed No. 14 Bowie (21-4, 5-1) its first district loss while countering the Bulldogs’ vaunted matchup zone with a sticky man-to-man defense.

“They play great defense, and they held us under our average, easily,” Chap point guard Cody Doolin said. “But we can play defense, too. We talked about clamping down on defense all week, and that’s what we did tonight.”

That defense came with a twist. With his guard depth limited because of the absence of several guards, Ellis bypassed his preferred press and stuck with a man-to-man halfcourt defense.

“We had to change some things up, and we threw something new at them,” Ellis said. “We knew they’d probably be ready for the press. But we really worked on our halfcourt defense, and I challenged the guys to go prove that they can do what we’ve been working on.”

The strategy held Bowie to 18 field goals and slowed Bowie’s leading scorers. Trey Lindsey, hounded by Westlake forward Conner Kemper, scored just five points on 1-of-7 shooting. Inside, Conner Robinson managed eight points on 3-of-9 shooting while working primarily against Carl Meyertons.

However, Westlake’s focus on slowing Lindsey and Robinson came with a price. Little-used Jacob Varela scored all 12 of his points in the second half as the Bulldogs overcame a 32-23 halftime deficit to seize the lead.

“That guy (No. 44) hadn’t played a whole lot, so we didn’t know that much about him,” Ellis said. “And darned if he didn’t get hot. I said ‘Let’s close out on him,’ and we finally did that.”

Bowie’s 39-38 advantage lasted all of 15 seconds. Doolin, who had 13 points and seven assists, found post Gus Leeper for a layup to give the Chaps a 40-39 lead at the end of the third period. Westlake then scored six of the next seven points before a brief Bowie surge trimmed the margin to 48-45 with 2 minutes, 54 seconds left in the game.

Stellar defense from Meyertons and a steal by Leeper helped fend off Bowie on back-to-back possessions, and Kemper nailed all four of his free throws in the final 2:01 to secure the win.

Kemper scored 14 points to lead Westlake, and he also pulled down a team-high nine points to pace the Chaps’ edge on the boards. As a team, Westlake outrebounded Bowie 34-21.

Leeper and Jason Powell added 11 points apiece for Westlake.

Mitch Anderson scored 14 to lead Bowie.

The Chaps travel to second-place Pflugerville Friday in another district test. Like Bowie and Westlake, the Panthers, 22-4 overall, have spent plenty of time in the state rankings.

“We’ve have some close games, and we’ll be lucky to get out of district without a loss,” Doolin said. “In this district, you have to bring it every night.”

Box
Jan. 19
Westlake 56, Bowie 49

Bowie 11 12 16 10 – 49
Westlake 13 19 8 16 – 56

Bowie (21-4, 5-1) – Baxter 4-7 0-0 8, Lindsey 1-7 3-7 5, Robinson 3-9 2-4 8, Varela 4-6 0-0 12, Anderson 5-13 0-0 14, Necak 0-0 0-0 0, Hopkins 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 18-43 5-11 49.

Westlake (21-4, 6-0) – Powell 5-11 0-0 11, Meyertons 2-6 1-2 5, Kemper 4-12 5-6 14, Leeper 5-8 00 11, Doolin 5-8 2-2 13, Rowan 0-2 0-0 2, Cox 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 22-50 8-10 56.

3-Point goals: Bowie 6-23 (Varela 4-6, Anderson 4-10, Baxter 0-1, Robinson 0-3, Lindsey 0-4), Westlake 4-21 (Leeper 1-3, Doolin 1-4, Kemper 1-5, Powell 1-6, Cox 0-1, Rowan 0-2). Rebounds: Bowie 21 (Robinson 10), Westlake 34 (Kemper 9). Assists: Bowie 5 (Robinson 2), Westlake 11 (Doolin 7). Steals: Bowie 6 (Baxter 2, Varela 2), Westlake 4 (Doolin 3). Blocks: Bowie 4 (Robinson 3), Westlake 1 (Leeper). Turnovers: Bowie 10, Westlake 10. Total fouls: Bowie 10, Westlake 8.