SEGUIN – From the Chaps’ unselfish passing to the energy off the bench, Westlake senior Courtney Duever always extols the virtues of her teammates.

But with the season hanging on the line, Duever grew a little selfish whenever the ball touched the rim. Or her hands. Or the backboard.

Duever, a 6-foot-1-inch senior captain, scored 27 points and grabbed a career-high 24 rebounds to carry the Chaps past San Antonio Churchill 51-37 in Tuesday’s taut Class 5A Region IV first-round playoff game. Her display of dominance helped the Chaps pull away from an improbable 35-35 tie at the end of the third period, and it set up a rematch with state-ranked San Antonio Jay Friday at a time and place not yet determined.

“This would have been our last game, and I didn’t want it to be over yet,” said Duever, a four-year member of Westlake’s basketball team. “We just started playing basketball again [in the fourth period] and took care of business.”

The Chaps (27-6) almost took care of Churchill (21-15) in the first period, racing out to a 17-4 lead before the Chargers could find their footing. However, Churchill rallied behind a ferocious halfcourt defense that forced 15 combined Westlake turnovers in the second and third periods.

“A lot of times, when you start out like that, you relax,” Westlake coach Keith Smith said. “And Churchill D’d up. The refs let us both play pretty physical.”

When Churchill’s Hunter Cortez buried a three-pointer at the third-period buzzer to tie the game, the Charger fans leaped into the air, amazed at their team’s good fortune.

But Duever saw the shot as another type of sign.

“That shot was really lucky, and that luck just showed how much we should be beating them by,” she said. “We clamped down on defense and started rebounding.”

Duever scored seven consecutive points to open the fourth period and spent the remainder of the game snaring rebounds. She had nine boards in the period while grabbing almost every errant shot.

In comparison, Churchill missed all eight of its field-goal attempts in the final stanza and scored its two points from the foul line. The Chargers, who had 23 rebounds in the game, had just one board in the final period.

According to Smith, the Chaps’ gut check in the fourth period testified to their fortitude.

“We hadn’t played well since the first few minutes of the game, so we [the coaches] just said, ‘Guys, you gotta want it right here,’ ” he said. “And they responded. Churchill only got those two points in the last quarter.”

Chap guard Cherrell Mays, who scored 15 points, sealed the win with eight points in the final 3 minutes, 51 seconds.

Post Danielle Espinoza led a youth-laden Churchill squad with 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. The Chargers had two sophomores and a freshman in their starting lineup

News and notes

Duever scored her game-high 27 points on 12-0f-19 shooting and also dished out a team-high three assists, accounting for 15 of Westlake’s 19 field goals. … Duever also had four steals to lead the Chaps. … Westlake’s bench went a combined 0-1 from the field. … Churchill shot 28.6 percent from the field. … Westlake has won two consecutive playoff openers but hasn’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2003.

Westlake 51, San Antonio Churchill 37

Churchill 6 12 17 2 – 37
Westlake 17 6 12 16 – 51

Churchill (21-15) – Holub 4-14 0-0 8, Volz 1-6 0-0 2, Burgamy 0-5 0-0 0, Truesdale 4-11 2-2 11, Espinoza 4-7 4-11 13, Wells-Gibson 0-0 0-0 0, Clarkson 0-0 0-0 0, Cortez 1-5 0-0 3, Rostek 0-0 0-0 0, Decker 0-1 0-0 0, Gonzalez 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-49 6-13 37.

Westlake (28-6) – Ambrose 1-4 1-4 3, Mays 3-8 8-10 15, Ball 2-2 0-1 4, Duever 12-19 3-5 27, Coley 1-7 0-2 2, Grace 0-0 0-0 0, Minutaglio 0-0 0-0 0, Bell 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Harris 0-0 0-0 0, Manzano 0-1 0-0 4 . Totals 19-39 12-22 51.

3-Point goals: Churchill 3-23 (Espinoza 1-1, Truesdale 1-4, Cortez 1-5, Volz 0-4, Burgamy 0-4, Holub 0-5), Westlake 1-6 ( Mays 1-2, Ambrose 0-2, Coley 0-3). Rebounds: Churchill 23 (Espinoza 8), Westlake 38 (Duever 24). Assists: Churchill 4 (Holub 2), Westlake 10 (Duever 3, Coley 3). Steals: Churchill 8 (Holub 3), Westlake 6 (Duever 4). Blocks: Churchill 4 (Espinoza 4), Westlake 2 (Duever 1, Manzano 1). Turnovers: Churchill 13, Westlake 18. Total fouls: Churchill 21, Westlake 12.