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BUDA — It took an interesting route Tuesday, but Westlake won its third straight playoff game by double digits.
After doing almost everything right while building a 21-point halftime lead, the Chaps did nearly everything wrong during the first nine minutes of the second half when they saw their lead cut to four.
But the end result in the postseason is more important than the journey, and Westlake was better down the stretch as it recorded a 64-54 win over Schertz Clemens in a Class 6A Division II regional semifinal at Johnson High School.
“When it’s the playoffs, you know every team is going to give everything they have, so everything that we’ve learned along the way gets tested," said Westlake coach Robert Lucero, who has guided the Chaps to the fourth round of the playoffs six times in the last 11 years. "You’re going to have to play through some calls, play through some changing defenses, see some fouls and hit some free throws. All those things came into play. … They made the run, and our guys did a good job of holding on.”
The game appeared over when Westlake led 42-21 at the break.
Mack Martin, who returned to the gym he played in the previous two years before transferring over the summer, scored 12 of his 17 points in the first quarter, and Bo Ogden had 16 of his game-high 25 points in the half as Westlake’s lead ballooned as high as 23.
The Chaps’ defense kept the Buffaloes (23-10), who may have caused a few in the crowd to wonder how they reached the third round of the playoffs in the first half, from scoring and utilizing their preferred full-court press.
“We got them caught up in switches on defense and were able to get to the rim or get kickouts for (3-pointers),” Lucero said. “We rebounded really well, too. We didn’t turn the ball over, and they weren’t able to trap us as much, but you knew that would come eventually.”
Clemens coach Robert Bell was apparently so unhappy with his team that his halftime speech went so long the officials had to go remind the Buffaloes the halftime clock was running out.
Whatever he said, worked, because Clemens was a different team in the third quarter. The Buffaloes opened the second half with a 15-0 run, their pressing forcing the Chaps into multiple turnovers and speeding up the game.
Suddenly, Westlake fans went from wondering if the Chaps would win by 40 to wondering if they would win at all.
Ogden’s 3-pointer broke Westlake’s drought, yet Hayes Goldman’s trey would be the only other points the Chaps managed in the quarter.
When Clemens’ Jayden Arceneaux hit a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter and cut Westlake’s lead to 48-44, the Buffaloes seemingly had all the momentum.
“They were pressing a lot and we just had to weather that,” Ogden said. “They turned us over a little bit, but we cleaned it up and got it figured out.”
Martin, who jokingly noted that shooting in the Johnson gym “comes easy for me,” drilled his third 3-pointer moments later and Westlake (29-6) never led by less than five the rest of the way.
Ogden scored six points down the stretch, including a monster dunk, to push the Chaps’ lead back into double figures.
“We got a little complacent in the third quarter, but then we remembered how we got the lead and took care of the ball,” Martin said. “Not a lot of teams get to go to the fourth round, so hopefully we keep the streak going.”
For Ogden, who will play at Texas next year and is in his first UIL postseason after playing for St. Michael’s the last three seasons, the Chaps’ playoff run is especially sweet.
“It’s been really fun,” he said. “I love these guys, and we’ve been playing well and been getting better as the season has gone on.”
Westlake scoring: Bo Ogden 25, Mack Martin 17, Hayes Goldman 7, Alex Allen 7, Joel Cannatti 3, Blake Cannatti 2, Brayden Horne 2, Powell Frickenschmidt 1