University of North Carolina head coach Roy Williams was treated to a great matchup between Texas’ No. 2 player in the 2019 class, Will Baker, and Texas’ No. 2 player in the 2020 class, Greg Brown III, as per TexasTop100.com.

Will and varsity basketball picked up the win against Vandegrift, 86-59, but the big man started slowly, scoring just two points in the first quarter. Eight second quarter points would get him rolling however, and the Vipers struggled to deal with him for the rest of the night.

“Everyone has games like that where you have a slow start, but my teammates got me more involved and gave me some [alley]-oops, so it was good [after the first quarter],” Will said.

There was an air of excitement in the gym with not one, but two college head coaches in attendance. Baylor head coach Scott Drew was also on hand to watch his 2018 signee, Matthew Mayer, score the first eight Westlake points and finish the night with 19.

His active hands on defense combined with six blocks from UT-commit Brock Cunningham were enough to close Vandegrift out of the game.

“A block and then getting it out [in transition] after a block is really deteriorating for the other team because they lose possession, and then we’re usually out in the fast break,” Brock said. “Either we get a bucket, or we get fouled. So it really breaks down a team to beat them down on defense like we did tonight.”

Greg finished the game with 27 points, but his team struggled to find other points. Westlake’s size made it difficult for the Vipers to attack, and the length of players like Matthew and Brock made perimeter shots a challenge as well.

Vandegrift finished the game with just three three-point buckets making it extremely tough for them to claw back into the game.

“I just have to do the little things to separate from the same quality of players,” Greg said. “Cutting, blocking-out, taking easier shots like getting a pull-up, back-screening for teammates — stuff like that.”

In a tight District, Greg said his team will need to shake off this loss quickly if they still want to make the postseason. Vandegrift is currently tied for third place and has a one-game cushion on Hays but are three games back of Lake Travis for the second spot in District 25-6A.

He added that if a third opportunity to play Westlake arises in the playoffs, they’ll be ready.

“We have so much film on them, and we know what they’re going to do,” Brown said. “So we just have to come in here prepared for next time.”