Westlake Marches To 3rd Straight Regional Quarterfinal After Duo Overwhelms Clark
The Westlake girls basketball team (30-6) has had to travel from Travis County to Comal County to play its first two UIL 6A postseason games in 2020, but it's rocked and rolled so much at its home away from home that it extended its winning streak to 15 games and qualified for its third straight UIL 6A Region IV quarterfinal.
The Chaparrals kicked off their latest playoff run with Tuesday's 63-34 bi-district win against Comal ISD foe Smithson Valley at New Braunfels Canyon High School and added Friday's 63-42 area round win against Bexar County's San Antonio Clark (28-5) at Smithson Valley High School.
Westlake usually leans on Texas commit Shay Holle, but a light five-point outing on Friday allowed other Chaparral players to take the reins and score in bunches. It started with VYPE Player of the Game and Texas State commit Presley Bennett, who scored 10 of her 19 points in the opening quarter.
"Just playing our game," said Bennett. "We started off slow against Smithson Valley. We're trying to get up the floor cause that's where we really excel, so just getting stops on defense and running in transition."
The Chaps were off to a strong start, but needed one final push to win all four quarters. They got it when Emily Seghers scored 13 of her game-high 20 points in the final period.
"We figured out that Clark was hugging up on a few of our other guards and forwards," said Seghers. "So, that allowed me and our freshman Pace [Rickard] to really attack and penetrate and get to the rim and get fouled."
Seghers' late points also paved the way to Westlake outscoring San Antonio Clark 22-11 in the final frame and overcoming 11-point outings by Cougar players Kayla Harris and Aaliyah Roberson. The Chaparrals may be a few days from the 2020 UIL 6A Region IV Quarterfinal, but used the late surge to prepare for their second season meeting with San Antonio Reagan.
"Ever since the last few games of district, we've been saying build the momentum and build the confidence leading into playoffs," said Seghers. "So, each game that we're able to get a lead early and win big, it just means that much for our confidence and momentum going into the later rounds."
The Chaps will try to ride the wave to replicate their 74-46 win against the Rattlers from a BeYOUtiful Classic game on November 14th, but Presley also knows both teams have "gotten a lot better" since.
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