Whereas Westlake has been the dominant Austin area Girls Basketball team this past winter, the Boys field has been much more wide open. That makes it all the more a shame that we’re stuck with the Division 1 and Division 2 postseason nonsense again this year; an unnecessary split which will prevent all those teams from deciding champions on the court the way it should be decided.

But it is what it is. And as the Boys playoffs get underway, we’ll take a look at the early rounds and send the teams off into this year’s tournament.

Westwood held on for a hard-fought sweep against Vandegrift to clinch the District 25-6A title and firm up their hold on the top spot of this week’s Boys Power Rankings. Since Westlake and Lake Travis have split two overtime games and they won’t get to decide it on the court in the playoffs – that has to get fixed! -- it was very tempting to rate them as tied for second. With a slightly better overall record, Westlake remains in second for now. Round Rock slipped in front of Bowie with a tough road game remaining to close out the Top 5.

Although Vandegrift and East View stumbled against ranked teams, they were “quality losses” and not enough for them to drop. Vista Ridge clinched a playoff spot and moved past Liberty Hill while the Panthers dropped a spot after two losses. Rouse cushioned the fall by dropping a close game of their own. They meet in the regular season finale after the Panthers narrowly won their first meeting. 4A district-mates LBJ and New Tech won their games to remain in place and close out the Rankings.