SEGUIN – It looked frighteningly familiar for the Chaps.

Like last year, Westlake fell behind by a double-digit deficit to San Antonio Jay in the second round of the Class 5A Region IV playoffs. Like last year, the Chaps rallied to tie the game in the fourth period. And like last year, No. 14 Jay (32-4) emerged with a win.

But those similarities stopped abruptly during the final moments of Jay’s thrilling 52-50 win Friday at Seguin High School.

A year ago, the Mustangs closed out their 45-35 second-round win over Westlake with a 12-2 run in the final six minutes of the game. On Friday, however, the No. 23 Chaps (28-7) almost erased a nine-point deficit in the final 1 minute, 20 seconds of the game, succumbing only when a shot in the lane by guard Cherrell Mays bounced off the rim with one second remaining on the clock.

“It just came down to one possession, and the ball didn’t roll in,” Westlake coach Keith Smith said. “I thought it was going in when it left Cherrell’s hands.”

May’s twisting shot in the lane couldn’t complete a frenzied Westlake rally in the game’s waning moments. After freshman sparkplug Destiny Amezquita gave Jay a 51-42 lead with a layup at the 1:33 mark of the final period, the partisan Jay crowd began enjoying an apparent Mustang win.

Chap guard Hannah Coley quickly silenced the celebration, draining a pair of three-pointers in a span of 24 seconds to cut the Chaps’ deficit to 51-48.

After Westlake’s trapping press drew an offensive foul on Amezquita, Chap post Courtney Duever followed a miss by teammate Kayla Ball to make it a 1-point game with 40 seconds left. Jay managed to dwindle the clock down to nine seconds before a Chap foul, but Amezquita sank just one of two foul shots.

Without a timeout remaining, Mays received the inbounds pass and raced up the court. The Mustangs shadowed Coley at the three-point line, and Mays drove into the lane for a good look at the rim.

“We were just trying to get up the court and get a shot,” Coley said. “Cherrell got off the shot, but it just didn’t go in.”

According to Jay coach Mike Floyd, Coley’s 21-point game did plenty to warrant his team’s defensive attention on that last Chap possession.

“We put token pressure and sagged down,” he said. “If anything, we weren’t going to give up the three [to Coley].”

Few folks in the stands thought the contest would come down to one shot after Jay raced to a 32-20 lead early in the third period. However, guard Coley rediscovered her shooting touch at a most opportune time. She had eight points in a 12-0 Westlake run that pulled the team within 34-32 late in the third quarter.

However, Jay refused to relinquish the lead that it held the entire game while advancing to the third round for the second consecutive year.

“I’m so proud of the team,” Smith said. “We were down, but we showed a lot of heart. Our full-court pressure got to them a little, Hannah knocked down some threes, and our rebounding got better.

“Hannah hit some big ones when we needed them.”

Duever ended the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds and helped the Chaps regain control of the glass after a rugged start. Jay outboarded Westlake 9-2 in the first period, but the two teams both ended with 28 rebounds.

Amezquita, a freshman starting at point guard for injured all-district senior Julissa Garrett, led Jay with 18 points. Erica Donovan, a heavily recruited wing who led the Mustangs in scoring and rebounding this season, scored just three points on 1-of-10 shooting against the Chaps’ predominant zone defense.

News and notes

Coley made five of her nine three-point attempts against Jay while breaking out of a shooting slump. She had missed all five of her three-point attempts in Westlake’s two previous games. … The Chaps made just five of 11 free throws against Jay. In their two playoff games, Westlake connected on 17 of 33 free-throw attempts. For the season, the Chaps shot 71-percent from the foul line as a team. … Seven of Westlake’s 15 turnovers came in the fourth period. … The Chaps held both of their playoff foes to less than 33-percent shooting from the floor. … Westlake hasn’t advanced past the second round of the playoffs since 2003.

Box


San Antonio Jay 52, Westlake 50

Jay 16 12 8 16 – 52

Westlake 13 6 16 14 – 50

Jay (32-4) – Amezquita 5-12 6-9 18, Taylor 3-7 4-6 12, Donovan 1-10 1-3 3, Orr 1-2 0-0 2, Stubbs 2-5 0-0 4, Evans 2-7 3-4 10, Harris 1-2 1-3 3. Totals 15-46 15-25 52

Westlake (28-7) – Ambrose 1-6 1-5 3, Mays 1-5 0-2 2, Ball 1-4 0-0 2, Duever 8-13 2-2 18, Coley 8-12 0-0 21, Grace 0-0 0-0 0, Minutaglio 0-0 2-2 2, Bell 0-2 0-0 0, Harris 0-2 0-0 0, Manzano 1-1 0-0 2 . Totals 19-45 5-11 50.

3-Point goals: Jay 5-19 (Amezquita 2-6, Taylor 2-6, Evans 1-1, Donovan 0-2, Stubbs 0-2), Westlake 5-21 ( Coley 5-9, Harris 0-1, Ball 0-1, Duever 0-1, Bell 0-2, Mays 0-2, Ambrose 0-5). Rebounds: Jay 28 (Taylor 7), Westlake 28 (Duever 10). Assists: Jay 9 (Amezquita 4), Westlake 7 (Ball 2, Mays 2, Coley 2). Steals: Jay 5 (Amezquita 2), Westlake 2 (Harris 1, Duever 1). Blocks: Jay 1 (Evans), Westlake 2 (Coley 1, Manzano 1). Turnovers: Jay 9, Westlake 15. Total fouls: Jay 14, Westlake 17.