The Westlake Lady Rams were able to take advantage of DeQuincy’s turnovers in their 53-30 win over the Lady Tigers on Tuesday in Westlake.
The Lady Rams turned 46 DeQuincy turnovers in the game into 34 points which amounts to 64-percent of Westlake’s total points.
“I would say we started off pretty good on our press,” said Westlake head coach Gloria Fontenot. “We started strong on our press and got some steals off that. I thought we did pretty well with our traps.”
Westlake jumped out to a 9-2 lead thanks to their full court press and traps on the sideline. The Lady Rams forced 10 DeQuincy turnovers in the first quarter to take a 13-3 lead going into the second quarter.
Sayli Maynard hit a shot in the lane to extend the lead to 15-3, but Westlake went over tow minutes until they got their next basket. While the offense struggled, the Lady Rams’ defense held the Lady Tigers scoreless.
The Westlake offense got back on track after the four minute mark in the second quarter. The Lady Rams went on a 9-2 run in the next two minutes to take a 26-7 advantage. Durning the run, the Westlake forced six straight Lady Tigers’ turnovers.
Westlake took a 30-12 lead going into the half and scored 21 points off turnovers in the first half.
The Lady Rams came out of the break looking a bit off rhythm, which has been a problem for Westlake in their past few games.
“It seems like we come into the third quarter not playing,” Fontenot said on the sluggish second half starts. “We stopped scoring for about four minutes and weren’t getting enough rebounds. We have to shape out that third quarter.”
Jase Johnson opened the second half with a put-back basket, but Westlake would not get back on the scoreboard until two minutes left in the third period. This time the Lady Tigers took advantage of the Lady Rams’ drought with seven unanswered points to draw within 13 by a 32-19 score.
DeQuincy outscored the Lady Rams 6-4 in the last couple of minutes to trail 38-25 going into the final period of play.
The Westlake defense came back to life in the fourth quarter. The Lady Rams didn’t allow a DeQuincy scored until just over four minutes left in the game when Ashleigh Shoemaker hit a free throw. The Lady Tigers only scored two baskets in the final period; one by Callisha Williams with under three minutes to go and another by Morgan Daniels on a put back at the buzzer.
An area that the Lady Rams struggled with on Tuesday was at the free throw line. Westlake shot eight free throws and only made four while going 4-for-12 in the game.
“We’ve got have free throws,” Fontenot said. “Four for 12 is not acceptable. We are really going to work on that.”
Johnson scored a game-high 16 points for the Lady Rams with Brittany Johnson adding nine points and Maya Tunwar scoring eight for Westlake.
Jasmine Phillips led DeQuincy with nine points while Shoemaker added eight points for the Lady Tigers.
Fontenot said that she is still looking for that complete game from her young team.
“I keep telling them that they look good at times and make some good plays offensively and defensively, but we have to put it together for four quarters,” Fontenot explained. “With the district teams we are going to see, we have to be ready to play four quarters.”
The Lady Rams will return to action on Thursday when they will compete in the Starks High School Holiday Classic. Westlake will take on East Beauregard at 5:45 p.m.
Westlake, La. —
