The Westlake Lady Rams picked up their second District 4-3A victory on Friday with a 50-43 win over rival Iowa Lady Yellow Jackets.
With the win, the Lady Rams sit in the fourth spot in the district after the first round of district play.
“It was a very big win for us,” Lady Rams’ head coach Gloria Fontenot said. “It gives us a little hope to get into a (good) place in our district and we knew we needed that win to get back in it.”
The Lady Rams were able to fight through the first half to tie the game 20-20 at the half.
“I felt like we weren’t running the floor like we needed too,” Fontenot said on the Lady Rams in the first two quarters. “I was worried that they were going to give up and stop running the floor.”
But Westlake didn’t give up and despite four quick Iowa points to start the second half, the Lady Rams made a charge at the lead. Both teams battled back and forth through the first four minutes of the third quarter with Jordyn Netty giving the Lady Rams a 28-27 lead on a transition basket. That started a 6-0 run for Westlake, which all points came off Iowa turnovers for a 32-27 Lady Rams’ lead.
Westlake took a 36-31 lead into the final period, and Kylie Goodeaux led the Lady Rams to the win. Goodeaux scored nine of her game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter.
Iowa got within three twice in the fourth, but were held without a basket in the last two minutes of the game to stifle a comeback attempt.
“That’s very big for us,” said Fontenot on maintaining the lead. “We’ve yet to get the lead and keep the lead. We normally go down and buckle and that’s been our biggest problem all year.
“That’s what I’m most happy about is that we got a lead and kept fighting and didn’t give up.”
Maya Tunwar added nine points for the Lady Rams in the win.
MaKayla LeBlanc, Tabitha Myers, and RoGene Trail led Iowa all with nine points. Trail scored seven of her nine points in the first quarter and was held scoreless in the second and fourth quarters by the Lady Rams.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy at all,” stated Fontenot. “We went our speed against their height, and we outran them. They ran with us and played a very good game.
“I thought we did fairly well shutting their inside game down.”
The Lady Rams will start the second round of District 4-3A play on Tuesday when they host the Eunice Lady Bobcats. Westlake fell to Eunice 42-40 in the district opener on the road.
District 4-3A Girls’ Standings
Overall Dist.
Northwest 16-11 4-1
Church Point 13-14 3-1
Eunice 5-7 2-2
Westlake 12-11 2-3
Iowa 8-12 2-3
Crowley 6-13 1-4
Friday’s results
Westlake 50, Iowa 43
Northwest 43, Crowley 29
Church Point @ Eunice
Iowa 61, Westlake 28
WESTLAKE–Iowa’s speed and athleticism was too much for the Westlake Rams in a 61-28 loss to the Yellow Jackets on Friday in Westlake.
Big runs to start the first and second halves allowed the Yellow Jackets to build a lead that was too much to overcome for the Rams.
“We are just outmanned,” said Westlake head coach Doug Morris. “That’s most probably one of the hardest games we’ve played. They are just a little bit more athletic than us. They came out and pressured us hard and we didn’t handle the ball well.”
Iowa started off the game on an 8-0 run to start the first quarter to take a 16-7 lead into the second period. But in the second quarter, the Yellow Jackets’ shooting went cold, and the Rams were able to hang in down 28-14 at half.
The Yellow Jackets made the adjustment at halftime and opened the second half with an 11-0 run that put the game out of reach for Westlake.
Charles Robinson led all scorers with 15 points for Iowa with Joe Frazier (13 pts) and Ray Jenkins (12 pts) adding double-digit efforts.
Zak Cahee led the Rams’ scorers with 10 points with Randy Hesse and Christian Weber adding six points for Westlake.
The Rams will return to action on Tuesday when they host Eunice.
District 4-3A Boys’ Standings
Overall Dist.
Iowa 15-9 3-0
Crowley 13-6 2-0
Northwest 12-13 0-1
Westlake 8-14 0-2
Eunice 6-11 0-1
Church Point 0-21 0-1
Friday’s results
Iowa 61, Westlake 28
Crowley @ Northwest
Church Point @ Eunice
*Some previous scores were not reported, records as currently posted on www.lhsaa.org.
Westlake, La. —
