Jamie Grace and Liz Carter combined for 47 points and 23 rebounds Friday night as the Westlake girls basketball team took another step closer to the playoffs by defeating the visiting Akins Lady Eagles 62-57.
With a berth secured, Westlake is one game ahead of Bowie (6-3 in district) for second place with one game to play, the regular-season finale Tuesday which has the Chaps (22-9, 7-2 District) visiting Bowie.
With Westlake leading by seven points going into the fourth quarter, Chaps coach Allison Wooley knew that to win the game, her team would have to change their focus.
“I told them that, offensively, we could score at will, but defensively we had to get stops,” Wooley said. “I wouldn’t say we locked them down, but once defense became our focus it really helped us get the win.”
Wooley’s words made an impact, as Westlake — using a full-court press — was able to hold Akins (9-22, 2-7) to 15 points in the final period en route to their seventh win in eight contests.
After a lackluster first quarter, which resulted in a 10-7 Westlake lead, the teams turned up the pressure as the Lady Eagles and Lady Chaps both utilized early presses to create turnovers. However, Westlake took advantage of the weak Akins pressure, quickly jumping 24-15 lead behind multiple fast break layups from Grace.
Grace, a 6-2 Texas State University-commit, was able to run the floor with ease against the smaller Lady Eagle defenders, resulting in 13 second quarter points for the all-district star. Not only being extremely effective in the paint, but also being able to knock down the mid-range jumpers, Grace proved that her versatility helps propel the team to victory.
Grace finished the evening with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
“I love playing in the paint,” Grace said of her roles, “but I love getting the opportunities, like tonight, where I can step out and hit some jumpers.”
Also helping the Lady Chaps to the 28-22 first-half lead was Liz Carter, who contributed seven of her 22 total points in the second quarter.
“There isn’t a better person to go up against every day in practice than Jamie,” Carter said of her teammate. “She’s such a mentor to me and I love grinding it out on the court alongside her, especially when we get wins.”
However, the Lady Eagles were not willing to go down without a fight in the second half, as guard Kelli Miles dropped in two of five three pointers as she fought for 22 points on the night.
The fourth quarter proved to be strikingly similar to the second quarter. After allowing the Lady Eagles to get within two points of the lead with six minutes remaining, Grace and Carter got to work again, creating havoc on defense and working together for success on offense.
“They compliment each other so much,” Wooley said. “We come into every game with the opponent knowing who Jamie is — they know that she’s a big presence inside. Liz is the trashcan. She will pick up anything and put it back in.”
Lady Eagles forward Sarah Hemmitt also added 17 points, but it wasn’t enough as Westlake got the best of the faulty Lady Eagles 62-57.
Anderson will win the district title, sitting at 9-0 after Friday night. Akins and Austin High are both 2-7 while Del Valle is 1-8.

Although Akins is winless in District 15-5A, Westlake went down to the wire with the Eagles for the second time this season to pull out a win.
The Chaps (21-8, 6-1) needed a last-second miss by Akins (12-17, 0-7) to secure a 66-64 win on the road Friday night, overcoming foul trouble to stay tied atop the district. Earlier this season Westlake needed an overtime frame to topple Akins and its furious, frantic attacking offense.
“In our district it’s really competitive, everyone sees Westlake and think it’s their shot,” senior forward Drew Wikelius said. “This whole season we’ve been doing really well. We’ve had some close games, we beat them in overtime at Westlake, but we’ve been able to come back and take big hits and still win them.”
It seemed every quarter had a different hero for the Chaps along the way, with Will Morse, Wikelius, Chase Carlton and RJ Rowan each taking turns. Wikelius had 10 in the first quarter, Morse scored nine in the second, Carlton posted 10 points in the third quarter and the fourth featured just nine points by the Chaps.
“Our bench really came through today and helped us a lot, we had some foul issues,” coach Tres Ellis said. “That’s the great thing about the team that we have, we can go to some other guys when we need them.”
Morse finished with an impressive line of 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists while sinking 8 of 12 free throws. Wikelius was in and out of the game with foul trouble but still managed to post a team-high 17 points and six boards.
Carlton added 12 points, 10 of which came in the third quarter as he aggressively attacked the basket and put Westlake back in front, while Rowan had eight of his 11 points in the second half.
“We played a lot of tight games but the fact we can hold them out and win them is good,” Carlton said. “The first half (shots) weren’t falling so I figured in the second half, they would. I kept shooting, kept trusting my shot.”
At 6-1 in district, the Chaps have not won a game by more than eight points as they are now tied with Bowie for the district lead. Furthermore, Westlake hasn’t had a lot of games decided by a wide margin, win or loss.
“We were just talking about that actually,” Morse said. “If we get in any tight games, we’ve got a really good record in those tight games and we’ll be prepared for those tight ones when playoffs come around.”

Down to the wire
The Chaps had a 13-5 lead at one point but it was down to 20-17 at the end of the first quarter. In the second frame, Akins kept firing and went to the break with a 41-34 edge as Westlake stopped crashing to the basket and started to try and answer every Eagles make.
“Their shots started falling and I think we started to panic a little bit,” Wikelius said. “Then we got away from what we were doing and that’s what got them back in it. “
After the break, Westlake came out and regained the lead thanks to Carlton and Rowan, but the Chaps couldn’t create any separation to put the Eagles away.
In the pivotal fourth quarter, Akins was able to pull even at 57-57 with 6:27 left to play, but a 3-pointer from the left wing by Rowan gave the Chaps a lead they would not relinquish again.
“They tried to spread us out, and it’s a good strategy obviously,” said Ellis of Akins one-on-one approach. “And obviously what we want to do is go into our big guys because we have a size advantage. When we got away from that for a little bit that’s when they got ahead.”
With the game at 62-61 Chaps, Wikelius made a nice move in the post and pushed the lead back to three, but a layup on the other end made it a one-point margin yet again.
After finally getting into the bonus, Morse knocked down two freebies with 26 seconds left to make it a 66-63 game.
Instead of going for the tie Akins attacked the hoop and got a foul, but made just one to give the ball back to the Chaps still trailing by two. However, just moments after making the clutch free throws, Morse threw the ball away amidst full-court pressure and Akins had one last shot at it.
Again, the home team tried to go for two instead of three and a long 2-pointer rimmed out to seal the win for Westlake.
“They came and gave us their best shot,” Carlton said. “We didn’t have the best first half, but we came back and took it to them and busted out of it.”
The Chaps looked like they would run away with the game early.
In the beginning, the Chaps were cutting hard to the hoop and finding open teammates with crisp passes for easy buckets. Then the Eagles simply caught fire in the second quarter and drained nearly every shot they put up, propelling Akins to a seven-point halftime lead.
The Westlake defense was noticeably different after halftime. Fredd Richardson had 18 points and the break and the Eagles had shot 6-for-8 on 3’s. After the break, Richardson had just two more points and Akins went 0-for-3 from outside, not getting many open looks.
“When they would try to take one of our guys one-on-one we would go back down and feel like we would have to do the same thing, which isn’t our game,” Morse said. “We broke down on defense and they were unconscious shooting, we just didn’t play very good defense but we picked it up in the second half.”

Key plays, key game
Some key plays kept the Chaps in control. Heading into halftime senior guard Holden Penn made a big 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut Akins lead down from 10 to seven. Just before the third quarter buzzer sounded, Rowan faked a shot and leaned to the right for an open angle over a defender, launched and swished through a trey to take Westlake’s lead from one point up to 57-53, six crucial points in a two-point win.
“Somebody different will come up, like Holden tonight,” Ellis said. “He hit the 3 right before halftime, which was big, and he hasn’t seen the floor in a couple of games. But he stepped right in did what we needed to when we needed it, and I’m really proud of him for that.”
Jordan Severt banged in the paint on both sides of the ball and finished with six points, eight rebounds and three assists. Blake Box added four boards and two steals to go with four points, and Rowan nailed all three of his 3’s.
The Chaps went 14 of 20 from the line while Akins shot a woeful 4-for-13 from the charity stripe.
Now the Chaps will play Bowie (22-6, 6-1) Tuesday for the sole rights to first place in District 15-5A. Westlake won the first meeting, 67-60, and the tip is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Westlake.
After losing to Bowie Friday night, Anderson is now 4-3 in district. Austin High sits in fourth place at 3-4 after beating Del Valle, which is now 2-5 in district.
“We played a lot of tight games but the fact we can hold them out and win them is good,” Carlton said. “We’re first in district right now and we’re happy about that.”

Westlake will welcome Lake Travis to Chaparral Stadium in Week 9 of the 2012 season for what can be considered the first truly meaningful football game between the Chaps and Cavs.
Well, welcome might not be the most accurate word, but it should be a welcome sight to fans on both sides as the two teams get to tangle for District 15-5A supremacy.
“This is a chance to have a rivalry game, to make it more of a true rivalry, and to play them for more than just pride,” Chaps football coach and Eanes ISD athletic director Darren Allman said.
How will the change to District 15-5A, with Lake Travis joining the group, impact the Chaps in football and the other sports is still to be seen, but that doesn’t mean the excitement and anticipation are diluted six months before any of it takes affect.
Westlake will stay in District 15-5A along with the same Austin area teams — Akins, Anderson, Del Valle, Austin High and Bowie — with just the Cavs joining the fray, bringing the district to seven total teams.
Allman, who was in San Antonio as the realignment changes were announced, said he was searching right and left this morning to fill out the schedule, because once the district was unveiled as having seven teams it meant adding one more nondistrict game was needed to fill the slate (see full schedule below).
With Cedar Park, Temple and Texas A&M Consolidated on the slate, Allman and head football coach Mike Jinks of Cibolo Steele realized nobody else wanted to take them on as a nondistrict foe, so the two sides agreed to a heavyweight clash to close out the nondistrict schedule in Week 3.
“That made us scramble, and that’s how we wound up with Steele on the schedule,” Allman said from San Antonio. “There’s not a lot of people left wanting to play them right now and we were kind of in the same spot. It’ll be good for both programs.”
Westlake can already lay claim to one of the toughest schedules to start 2012, as Allman believes there could be up to five state-ranked teams awaiting the Chaps. The team starts off hosting Cedar Park in Week 0, then the Chaps are at Temple, at A&M Consolidated, host Cibolo Steele and are at Bowie in Week 4 to start district play. The rest of the slate goes at Akins, hosting Anderson, at Del Valle, open date Week 8, hosting Lake Travis, and closing the season at rival Austin High.
Allman was hoping that a showdown with Lake Travis would be near the end of the district schedule, as was Cavs coach Hank Carter, and that’s just how it turned out with a meeting in Week 9.
The game will move to Westlake for this season, a departure from the past two years when the two teams met at Darrel K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium.
“I’m glad it turned out that way, we’ve got five really tough games to start and we probably will be playing all state-ranked teams those first five weeks,” Allman said. “Lake Travis coming in is good for our district, and it’s nice to play them at home. That game could have district championship ramifications, so I’m glad it fell late in the year.”
Taking it all in a moment before he hit the road to drive back into Austin, Allman considered the challenges ahead.
“I am glad about all of that, it’s going to be a very exciting schedule,” he said. “And we get five exciting games at our place.”
The enrollments for the 15-5A schools: Akins 2731, Anderson 2047, Bowie 2889, Austin 2258, Lake Travis 2217, Westlake 2569, Del Valle 2741.

DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME
August 24 (scrim.) Abilene Cooper Westlake TBD
August 31 Cedar Park Westlake 7:30
September 7 Temple Temple 7:30
September 14 A&M Consolidated College Station 7:30
September 21 Cibolo Steele Westlake 7:30
September 28 Bowie Westlake 7:30
October 5 Akins Away 7:30
October 12 Anderson Westlake 7:30
October 19 Del Valle Del Valle 7:30
October 26 Bye Week OPEN —-
November 2 Lake Travis Westlake 7:30
November 9 Austin High Away 7:30

* All times and dates subject to change*
Thursday game TBD by district.
Homecoming date TBD.

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The Westlake girls soccer team finished with a 1-1-1 record at the Governor’s Cup in Georgetown over the weekend.

The Chaps tied Arlington 0-0 in their final game of the Governor’s Cup Saturday. In the first game, they routed Waco 9-0 and proceeded to lose to Flower Mound Marcus 1-0 in the second game.

“I think we are coming out of our preseason tournament play strong and we are just going to keep building,” senior forward Caroline Furst said. “And hopefully, build through district and then through playoffs.”

The first 10 minutes of the match against Arlington, the Chaparrals opened up with the majority of the possession, and it was Katharine Noonan threatening the Colts goal. She had two chances early on forcing the Arlington keeper to make a tough save and sending a header off a corner just wide. The missed scoring chances for Westlake proved costly later in the match, as the squad struggle in the attacking third.

Peyton Janssen also was close to scoring in the first half forcing the Arlington keeper to punch away her long-range effort. The closest opportunity for Westlake in the first half was a through ball by Christy Goldberg to Rachel Coyle, but the keeper saved Coyle’s attempt to score. The missed scoring chances for the Chaps proved costly later in the match, as the squad struggle in the attacking third.

The Colts could not muster much of an attack in the first 40 minutes and were forced to try and beat Westlake off the counter. The defense was able to read what Arlington was trying to do and were able to deal with the few Arlington attacks.

Westlake keeper Lindsey Harris was forced to make only one save off a weak shot from a Colts striker.

Early in the second half, the Chaps were able to create a few chances but were unable to capitalize. A curling effort from just inside the box by Furst forced the Arlington keeper to make a save.

The majority of the second half was lackluster with neither side able to create a good chance on goal. The Colts started to pressure the Westlake defense after poor play from the midfield, but were unable to create any real chances.

“I think in the beginning we came out strong ready to play,” senior midfielder Noonan said. “We had some opportunities that we should have put away, and then toward the end it just came down to a matter of effort and wanting it more.”

The Chaps made one last push late in the second half, including a free kick shot from Janssen, who forced the keeper to make a save. With five minutes left, Hannah Meyer cross eventually landed to Noonan who tried to find a teammate but sent the ball over the net.

Westllake would finish 0-0 in a rather uneventful game, and the team seemed tired after playing three matches in three days during the tournament in Georgetown, which hosted some of the top teams from around the state.

The girls will play Boerne Champion next on Friday.

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The Chaps, now 8-0, closed the tournament with a narrow 3-2 win over Friendswood to capture the tournament title.

In the first game of the tourney, Westlake took down Cy-Falls 3-1. Then the Chaps took resounding victories over Dawson, 6-0, and Klein Oak, 5-0, to put themselves in the championship game.

Westlake will get back on the pitch with a 7:45 p.m. home match against Vandegrift Friday, then the Chaps travel to play at Cibolo Steele 6:45 p.m. Tuesday.

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By Emily Martinez
Correspondent

A four-year Westlake High School varsity wrestler, team co-captain and a dedicated student describe one person, senior Sammy Ivester.

During his freshman football season Ivester was a 5-4 receiver/corner back who weighed 95 pounds. He was the perfect featherweight, the lowest weight class, for the wrestling team.

Ivester was thrown onto the varsity wrestling team after about two weeks of training, where his first opponent was a senior wrestler.

“He destroyed me, but I never let him pin me, and he held me in a guillotine the whole match,” Ivester recalled.  “But I never quit. So, after the match, I got the respect from the upper classmen. It was really cool, because I looked up to a lot of them.”

His freshman year, he was 10 pounds under the weight limit and had no varsity experience. Ivester won one match the whole season. It was his last match of the season, and it won him third place at district.

“It was awesome,” Ivester said.  “After I won, the whole team rushed the mat and picked me up.

Since his freshman year, Ivester has grown both mentally and physically as a wrestler. Though his sophomore and junior seasons were cut short due to injuries and illnesses, he is now ready to compete.

Now a senior, Ivester is a co-captain with Cooper Scott, and  their fellow wrestlers on the team look to them for leadership.

Alex Cabezas, a junior on the varsity wrestling team, had praise for both team captains.

“Our captains are great, Sammy and Cooper both know what they’re doing and encourage us to do our best all the time.”

In his sophomore and junior years, Ivester cut weight to get down to 119 pounds. But now that he is a 5-foot, 10-inch senior, his weight class is now 132 pounds. This season, Ivester has a personal record of 20 wins and 8 losses.

“It’s better than I’ve done any year before.” he said.

Wrestling is an individual sport, but Ivester credits a lot of his success to the people he’s around at practice all the time.

“You really grow as a team, Ivester said. “You become close to the guys you train with every day, so you grow together. It’s still a team sport, because you have 13 other guys out there to watch your back while your on the mat.”

Ivester is a seasoned wrestler and a committed student who knows the importance of performing equally well in practice and in the classroom. He said he is planning on majoring in biomedical engineering in college and is not ready to leave wrestling.

“I’ve talked to some coaches, but I don’t think I’ll wrestle in college, I’ll be really busy with school. But I’m really interested what I want to study, so I’m excited about it.” Ivester said. “I’m going to miss it a lot -  the wrestling and being with the team.”

Over the past four years, Ivester has been a leader for his team, on and off the mats.

“A lot of my character and work ethic come from wrestling,” Ivester said. “It’s made me a tougher and better person all around.”

Ivester will wrestler at the district championships starting Friday at Vista Ridge.

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By Habeab Kurdi

Sports Editor

Five seniors soared past the competition as the Westlake girls golf team obliterated the field with a 24-stroke win at the Marble Falls Mustang Classic Saturday.

Mariana Sims took the individual title with a two-day total of 146 to pace the Chaps at the Apple Rock/Horseshoe Bay Resort course.

The No. 3 ranked Westlake squad has shown an ability to overcome obstacles within the game, and away from it as well, said Coach Chuck Nowland.

“I am really pleased with how they were going about playing a good tempo and hitting good shots, and if they hit a bad shot didn’t give up on it,” Nowland said. “The neat thing was seeing the girls who have stayed with the program feeling that they’ve come together as a team and pull for each other and are happy for each other’s successes.”

Sims was one stroke behind first place after the first day but came on strong to claim the individual title.

“She put herself in that position, stayed steady and took her chances when she had them,” Nowland said. “She kind of knew if she played her game, she’d end up winning. It’s a satisfying win for her and the team to have a senior take the trophy there, too.”

Fellow seniors Emily Austin, Emily Singletary, Meg Healy and McKenna Wilbur helped the Chaps to the big win over runner-up Westwood.

Healy, who is committed to play at Rhodes College upon graduation, shot a two-day total of 166, Singletary shot a 171, Wilbur posted a 174, and Austin shot a 210.

Sims sisters shine at Sorenstam Invitational

In other news, Mariana and her younger sister, Westlake’s No. 1 golfer Sierra Sims, were invited to play in the prestigious ANNIKA Invitational at Reunion Resort hosted by Annika Sorenstam in Reunion, Fla. Jan. 13-16.

Against the top junior golfers in the nation, the younger Sims shot a three-day total of 222 to finish in a six-way tie for eighth place. After day one she was in a tie for 55^th place with a score of 81, but she rallied to shoot a 67 on day two and a 74 on the final day.

The elder Sims, Mariana, posted a three-day total of 231 to take 42^nd place with steady scores throughout the tournament. She shot an opening-round 79, followed that up with a 75 and closed with a 77.

Part of the girls team will travel to play in the Lauren Johnson Memorial Invitational in Victoria before the Girls State Preview tourney Feb. 24-25 in Austin.

By Habeab Kurdi

Sports Editor

Still perched atop the Class 5A boys rankings, the Westlake golf team has had difficulty getting past the top team in Class 4A lately.

Although Lake Travis has prevented the Chaps from a few wins this season, Westlake has continued to hold its own in 5A, beating teams that may have taken the upper hand earlier in the season.

That was the case again as Westlake wound up placing second overall to first-place Lake Travis at the Battle at the Lake Tournament hosted by both schools.

“The only 5A teams that beat us, we have turned around and defeated by larger margins,” Coach Callan Nokes said. “The only two 5A teams to finish ahead of us in any tournament this year were Mansfield (five shots in the Fall State Preview) and Austin High (three shots in the Marble Falls tourney where the Chaps had only four players). We will keep working to improve and hopefully will be ranked No. 1 at the end, when it really matters.”

The top Chaps squad, the Westlake Blue team, took an 11-stroke lead after the first day of play, shooting a 388, but on day two, a partial roster and weather knocked the Chaps off course, and they wound up finishing one stroke behind the Cavs, 794 to 795, though Nokes and the team refused to use either as an excuse.

Stratton Nolen placed second overall with a score of 147, losing a sudden-death playoff to Vista Ridge’s Blake Stasiunias. Matthew Perrinne took third place individually with a score of 150 but after the top two Chaps, Westlake didn’t have enough to cling to its first-place standing after day one.

“We’re obviously disappointed we blew an 11-shot lead, but I am happy with the way we played the first day,” Nokes said. “Stratton and Matthew continue to play outstanding. It’s been that way all year, those two are continuously fantastic and everyone else has been a little up and down. It’s something we continue to work on.”

Garrett Lynch shot a two-day 159 for the Chaps, and next on the leaderboard after Lynch was JJ Ghidoni with a 171. Wehman Hopke shot a 173, and Scotty Wilson shot a 174.

Nokes said losing to Lake Travis, which is likely on its way up to join Westlake at the 5A level, is something that is taking getting used to after nearly a decade of dominance, if not more.

“It’s been tough, it’s the first year they’ve really beaten us,” Nokes said. “But it’s good, this should help us down the road.”

Next up the boys put on will be in the Mike Brent tournament, which will feature two teams of five rather than six like this past weekend. The Mike Brent Invitational is scheduled for Feb. 24-25, and Nokes believes the team has what it takes to win state with some continual improvement.

“I’m not frustrated at the way we’re playing, I know we’re not playing poorly because we’re going into tournaments and pretty much beating everybody,” he said. “But I know what we need to win in the end, and we need a little more.”

The results of our weekend tournament are attached to this email.

Obviously it is disappointing and somewhat amazing that 795 shots can be hit and we came up one short in this event.  However, I think our

#1 ranking is justified (and the numbers back it up) in 5A as the only 5A teams that beat us, we have turned around and defeated by larger margins.  The only two 5A teams to finish ahead of us in any tournament this year were Mansfield (5 shots in the Fall State

Preview) and Austin High (3 shots in the Marble Falls trmt. and we had only 4 players).

We will keep working to improve and hopefully will be ranked #1 at the end when it really matters.

Wes Thomas (second place), David Cox (first) and Mattias Glenesk (third) getting their hardware from the 200-yard freestyle race at the district meet Saturday.

By Habeab Kurdi
Sports Editor

Buoyed by top finishes on both sides, the Westlake swim teams won both the boys and girls District 15-5A Championships Saturday at the University of Texas Jamail Swim Center.

Paul Corbae took home the top district swimmer honors on the boys side after taking first in the 100 breaststroke and second in the 200 individual medley.

The boys side easily won, posting 198 points to Anderson’s 118, with Bowie taking third with 116 points.

The Westlake girls also had a wide margin of victory, topping Bowie 191 to 128, with Anderson in third with 100 points.

“We learned a lot from it, won both sides pretty handily, which is nice, and in terms of performance,  it’s the first step,” Coach Isaac Grombacher said. “But it’s tough to get too excited about because it is just the beginning. This is such a first step of a meet we want to focus on what we did here and think about the end. Whatever we did here want to improve on in two weeks.”
The team will have a bit of a breather before the regional meet, which is scheduled for Feb. 10-11 at the Conroe school district’s natatorium.

The time in between the district and regional meet is vital to the Chaps chances to advance on to state, Grombacher said.

“We’ll continue resting because a lot of swimmers are tired from intense training,” he said. “Hopefully at regionals we’ll be really fresh. You see spring come early when they have time to rest. They look livelier, and there’s an actual different in how high or low their bodies are in the water depending on how tired they are.

“It’s really fun for me and a lot more fun for them than the last few months have been.”

Top finishers for the boys side include first-place finishers Audie Embestro in the 100 backstroke, Ben Ussery in the 100 butterfly, David Cox in the 200 freestyle and Mattias Glenesk in the 500 free. The 200 medley relay team of Cox, Corbae, Ussery and Embestro won gold as did the 400 freestyle relay team of Cox, Ussery, Embestro and Zack Thomas.

Both Thomas and Embestro swam the fastest than Grombacher has seen them go in a high school meet.

On the girls side, the Chap’s got first place finishes from Mackenzie Franklin in both the 50 freestyle and 100 free. Irena Martinez took first in the 100 butterfly.  The 400 freestyle relay team of Alyssa Woltemath, Olivia Muehlberger, Emma Guilluly and Mina Glenesk also grabbed a gold, while Franklin and Woltemath teamed with Margaret Beck and Laurie Prinz to win the 200 medley relay.

As some Westlake swimmers broke through to earn a regional spot, that usually meant they were displacing another teammate, giving some finishes a bittersweet feeling.

“We had so many people in the finals, usually if someone snuck their way in it bumped someone else out,” Grombacher said. “As far as the team goes, it’s a wash both ways.”

Franklin has increased her performances as the races have grown in intensity,

“She’s getting stronger and stronger each week, and my feeling is she’s going to make it to state,” Grombacher said.

Adding to the boys total with a second place finish was the 200 free relay was the team of Corbae, Jon Savage, Hayden Southworth and Andre Newlands.

In the 200 freestyle, Wes Thomas finished second, followed by Glenesk third and David Doyle fifth. Corbae, Thomas and Embestro took second, third and fourth in the 200 IM.  Ussery finished a close second in the 50 freestyle, while Southworth was fifth and Elliot Foreman seventh.

The Chaps completed a sweep in the 100 butterfly with Mariano Adame finishing second and Southworth third. Foreman was sixth in the 100 Freestyle with Savage seventh. In the 500 freestyle, Doyle took fourth, Ryan Gunn was fifth and Rob Blais eighth.

Thomas was second and David Cox third in the 100 backstroke to complete a 1-2-3 finish, with Clayton Clark in seventh place. Wes Thomas added a third finish in the 100 breaststroke while Adame was fifth and Brock Jones was seventh.

Others scoring for the Westlake girls included Mina Glenesk, who also captured third place in the 200 freestyle, in which Muehlberger was fourth. In the 200 IM, Martinez finished second and Guilluly third, with Anne Shedlosky taking sixth and Bryanna Hundt seventh.

Beck grabbed fifth in the 50 freestyle, followed by Catherine Anne Prideaux in sixth and Bayley Wiltshire seventh. In the girl’s 100 butterfly, Muehlberger was second and Beck third with Magda Contreras finishing sixth. Woltemath added a fourth-place finish in the 100 freestyle, while Wiltshire was seventh and Alec Marshman finished eighth.  Contraras took fourth, Glenesk fifth and Maddy Hunt eighth in the 500 freestyle.  Woltemath, Guilluly and Prideaux finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the 100 backstroke.

In the 100 breaststroke, Shedlosky took second place, followed by Prinz third, Jessica Conrad fourth and Olivia Kirkpatrick sixth. The 200 freestyle relay team of Franklin, Wiltshire, Muehlberger and Beck also took home a second place silver medal.
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AUSTIN— It took a defensive stop, and a little good fortune, in the final seconds for Westlake to secure a 55-54 win Friday night on the road against Austin High.

With the Chaps (19-8, 4-1 District 15-5A) clinging to a one-point lead with 2.4 seconds remaining in the game, the Maroons’ Matt Jones missed an open baseline 3-pointer to seal the district win for Westlake.

“(The Maroons) ran a great play and got the shot off,” Westlake coach Tres Ellis said of the final play, “but we took away their key player, and forced (Jones) to take the shot. It paid off.”

After winning the opening tip, the Chaps quickly got off to the type of start their accustomed to— utilizing effective half-court offense and perimeter ball movement. Led by junior Will Morse and senior post Drew Wikelius, Westlake was able to jump out to an early 12-0 run that consumed the first six minutes of the game, a needed early spark after the start against Anderson the game before.

However, Austin High (16-0, 2-3) was able to steadily chop the lead, largely in part to Maroons forward Patrick Strake. Strake showed poise from beyond the arc and grit in the paint, drawing many fouls early and, in turn, headed to the free-throw line where he was 5-for-8 on the night.

Wikelius, who, despite having 14 points for the Chaps, made his biggest contribution came on the defensive end, was assigned the task of guarding the 6-6 Strake

“He’s a tough player, they go to him every time,” Wikelius said. “You’ve got to play him straight up but have to make a note to play with good principles and not let him get the best of you.”

Strake led the game’s scorers with 21 points.

Holding onto a 30-25 advantage at the half, Westlake needed another interior presence to help slow Strake, who was wearing on Wikelius’ sole effort.

That’s when Jordan Severt stepped up.

Though being an offensive non-factor through the first half, Severt, a sophomore, increased his scoring production in the third quarter. After guard RJ Rowan missed an early-half layup attempt, Severt bullied through the lane and controlled the rebound, putting it back up (and in) for two of his five points in the quarter.

“I had heard about the competiveness of this game from the older guys, and I know to get my points, I would have to be physical down there,” he said. “It’s always different, you’ve just got to get big (in the paint).”

With the score knotted at 37-37 in the third quarter, Severt and Wikelius used their familiarity with each other to hold off a reenergized Austin attack. After receiving the ball in the post, Wikelius spun towards to hoop to and found a wide-open Severt for an easy layup.

“When I feel that double-team coming, I know exactly where to look,” Wikelius said of his teammate, Severt. “He is always in the right spot when I need him the most.”

Severt would finish with five points, all in the third quarter.

Though leading by as much as 12 in the game, Westlake took only a two-point lead into the fourth quarter, and the Maroons were determined to make the Chaps fight for the ‘W’.

Fight, they did.

Westlake’s guard play proved vital during the final period, as Morse, Chase Carlton, and Cole Norton all contributed in the back-and-forth quarter. Norton, a senior who has missed games recently due to injury, provided four of his 11 points in the quarter but effectively allowed the Chaps to rotate guards with ease in crunch time.

Morse, who tallied 11 points on the night, sparked the Chaps with a hard drive for two following a controversial charge taken by Norton with just under two minutes remaining.

With the ball and 20 seconds remaining, Strake was fouled hard by Wikelius, resulting in two made free throws and a one-point margin, 55-54. With the gymnasium electrified, Morse was immediately fouled, missing the front-end of a 1-and-1 situation, giving Austin a final chance to score.

The Maroons, eager, yet unable, to get the ball to Strake, had to settle with a long inbound pass to sophomore guard Matt Jones in the corner for a three-point attempt. Unlike his other 12 points, however, this one didn’t go in the goal.

The Chaps look to continue winning as they host Del Valle Tuesday night.

In other 15-5A games Friday night:

Bowie (4-1) beat Akins (0-5) 65-52

Anderson (3-2) defeated Del Valle (2-3) 52-41

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