Westlake wins Hackberry Invitational 62-48 over Starks

After slipping by Johnson Bayou in the semifinals, the Westlake Rams had one of their best games of the young season with a 62-48 win over the Starks Panthers to win the Hackberry Invitational held at the SPAR Recreation Center.

“Today, we actually came ready to play and played pretty good basketball,” Rams’ head coach Doug Morris said.” It’s probably the best game we have played yet this year. We finally put together a full game.

“We got up pretty good and was sloppy at times, but for the most part we played good basketball.”

Westlake (5-2) took control of the game from the beginning with a 10-0 run while forcing five Starks turnovers.

“We were playing well and we were playing hard,” Morris said on the hot start. “That was the key factor and what I’ve been harping on for weeks now. We just have to come out and play hard and we haven’t played hard.

“Tonight we came out and played hard and did well on capitalizing on turnovers.”

The Rams never relinquished the lead and took a 39-21 advantage at the half.

Westlake opened the second half with a defensive stand that didn’t allow the Panthers to score late in the third quarter while allowing only nine points in the period.

As the game drew closer to the end, the Rams’ bench players saw some time on the floor and Starks was able to convert at the line. Eight of the last 11 Starks points were scored at the free throw line.

Despite times in the game with a series of turnovers, Morris was happy to see his team play a complete game.

“We needed this,” Morris said. “This is our seventh game and I hadn’t felt like we haven’t played a very good game yet this year. After this game, I’m hoping it’s a stepping stone to get us where we need to go.”

Gareth McConathy scored a game-high 21 points for the Rams with Zak Cahee adding 15 points for Westlake.

Starks’ Matthew Fritz led the Panthers with 10 points while Brian Clark added nine points.

Westlake will play on Tuesday on the road in Welsh.

Other Boys’ Bracket scores
Consolation Final: Johnson Bayou 53, South Cameron 35; Third Place Game: Grand Lake 65, Hackberry 49.

Westlake 61, Vinton 37
SULPHUR–The Westlake Lady Rams overcame a sluggish start to take third place in the Hackberry Invitational on Saturday with a 61-37 win over the Vinton Lady Lions.

Vinton jumped out to a 6-0 lead out of the gate while taking advantage of Westlake turnovers.

“I think a lot of our mistakes (we) brought upon ourselves,” Westlake head coach Gloria Fontenot said on the shaky start. “We had turnover after turnover. We walked and played out of control that first quarter.

“We couldn’t buy a bucket and couldn’t run an offense.”

Westlake started to chip away at the Lady Lions’ lead and took a 14-11 advantage after the first quarter.

The Lady Rams’ offense came to life mid-way through the second quarter while their press defense forced five Vinton turnovers and held the Lady Lions to only six points for a 28-17 Westlake lead at halftime.

“I don’t know why, but it takes us that long before we can put it together,” Fontenot said. “I told them to settle down and take it down (the court) and execute. We tweaked a little bit on our offense where we needed to be and the shots started falling.”

Westlake’s shots continued to fall in the second half while the Lady Lions woes with turnovers persisted. 

It had appeared that with the hot start, Vinton would give the Lady Rams a fight for third place in the tournament, but the Lady Lions has struggled with consistency.

“You never know what team is going to show up,” said Vinton head coach Nikki Solieau. “We have to learn how to be consistent.”

Keeya Williams scored 18 points to lead all scorers for Vinton with Khaleelah Ross adding nine points for the Lady Lions.

Kylie Goodeaux led Westlake with a team-high 14 points. Chelsea Evans scored 12 points and Brittany Johnson added 11 points for the Lady Rams.

Vinton will host Hamilton Christian on Tuesday while the Lady Rams will travel to Welsh to take on the Lady Greyhounds.

Other Girls’ Bracket scores
Consolation Final: Johnson Bayou 48, South Cameron 27; Championship Final: Grand Lake 37, Hackberry 22.