BUDA — Varsity basketball prides themselves on experience. Getting guards in the doors early and developing them into players that can handle late-game, high-pressure situations has been a focus, head coach Robert Lucero said.
The Chaps guards showed up in a big way Friday night, leading Westlake (31-6) past Judson (31-7), 49-46, for a second time this season in the 6A-DII Region Finals at Hays High School in Buda. 49 fouls were called, slowing the game down to a crawl. Senior guards Blake and Joel Cannatti, along with Bo Ogden and junior guards Mack Martin, Powell Frickenschmidt and Alex Allen delivered, taking care of the ball, including holding onto it for nearly the last two minutes of the game to close out the win.
“Every practice, we work on these game situations,” Blake said. “We can just play through the refs, play through whatever the game throws at us.”
The Chaps now move on to play Cypress Falls in the State Semifinals, another team that they have already beat. However, Blake stressed that it’s never the same game the second time around.
“The second time [playing a team] is a totally different game,” Blake said. “They come in with new plays, new players sometimes. We have to play with confidence and treat it like a different team.”
While Martin starred early once again, putting up five of the Chaps first seven points, it was ultimately Ogden who led the way in the first half with 10 points. Guards delivered all 24 of their first half points, and continued that into the rest of the game, accounting for all 49.
Defensively, the Chaps took Judson’s second leading scorer, 6-foot-5 sophomore forward Jay’Maree Bowens, out of the game early. The Chaparral guards attacked the elite dual-sport athlete from the jump, forcing him to pick up four first-half fouls in under eight minutes of action. He would go on to foul out within the first two minutes of the third quarter.
With Bowens mostly sidelined and no offensive momentum for the Rockets, the Chaps never trailed in the second frame. Ogden and Allen each scored in a quick 4-0 spurt in the last 40 seconds of the half to hand Westlake a 24-19 lead at the break.
“It was good for us to get a little bit of a lead,” Lucero said. “We knew that they were gonna make a run back at us, but having a little bit of a cushion gave us some momentum.”
Allen guarded the Rockets leading scorer, senior guard Jaylen Crittendon, and similarly to how it went for Bowens, Crittendon was held to six points, over 10 below his season average.
“Anything that you need to win the game, Alex does,” Lucero said. “He handled the ball late, he scored a few big layups, he brings the ball up. He guards [Crittendon], who’s their leading scorer, and he only hits two 3s.”
The Chaps survived the third-quarter free throw fest. Then despite giving up the lead in the fourth, they hit a few crucial shots down the stretch, bookending the game with a nearly two-minute-long possession facing relentless pressure but not turning the ball over.
