Tuesday’s weather delay caused this game to be played on a Wednesday night, but that didn’t seem to affect varsity boys basketball as they scored 30 first quarter points en route to a 93-47 win at home against Leander.

“As coaches, we want to practice all the time, and when we get out of rhythm at all, we get more nervous than the guys,” head coach Robert Lucero said. “I thought we had a good prep day on Monday for the game, and we put the work in. So for them to have a little bit of rest was huge for them.”   

It was Will Baker who once again had a game-high 22 points and grabbed four rebounds, but Westlake’s depth was also on show. The bench combined for 34 points, including nine points by point guard senior Kyle Davis and seven from junior Wyatt Smith.

“Wyatt has to go against Will and [senior] Brock [Cunningham] and these other guys that are big and super athletic [in practice], so then when he gets into a game, he’s prepared to play against whoever,” Lucero said. “Kyle has to sacrifice some shots and having the ball in his hands at times, so it was great to see him get hot.”  

Leander (11-12, 2-3), like all the other District opponents Westlake (24-3, 5-0) has faced thus far, struggled to contain Will’s size and strength inside. But the big man also showcased his speed in running the break and getting easy fastbreak dunks off his two steals.

“My teammates are looking for me, and if I get the ball down low, I’m going to be aggressive with it and look to score,” he said. “That’s my responsibility down low.”

The loss drops the Lions into a tie with Vista Ridge (18-8, 2-3) for the fourth and final playoff spot in District 25-6A. In a very tight District, Leander head coach Clint Bradley said every game matters, and they’ll need to bounce back quickly.

“In our league, the opportunity to get a win is pretty tough, so it hurt us [to lose to Lake Travis] because we wanted to win that game, and we had an opportunity to win the game,” he said. “Westlake’s a very good group, but we’re not out of the mix by any means.”

The message to his players after the loss was to stay positive to try and pick up a win at home in their next game against Lehman (9-17, 0-5).

“The sun’s going to come up tomorrow, and we have to learn from the mistakes we made tonight and not make them on Friday,” Bradley said.  

On the flip side, the Chaps will hope to carry the momentum of their five-game District winning streak into Vista Ridge Friday night. That game will signify the midway point of the District season and mean Westlake has played everyone else in District 25-6A at least once.