Westlake dictates tempo to beat Fairview
{{tncms-inline alignment=”left” content=”<p><span>Westlake …………….. 54</span></p> <p><span>Fairview ……………… 46</span></p>” id=”dfbc1693-117f-4d30-a854-1262be8b1bec” style-type=”fact” title=”GIRLS’ BASKETBALL” type=”relcontent”}}
Westlake slowed the tempo and pulled away in the third quarter of a 54-46 win over Fairview in the opening game of the Barbe Southwest Shootout.
The Rams (5-3) outscored Fairview 16-8 in the third quarter to turn a two-point halftime deficit into a six-point lead it never relinquished.
“I felt we were more controlled in the second half,” Westlake head coach Gloria Fontenot said. “I went in at halftime and said we were not going to play street ball anymore, we were going to play out of our offense and we did a better job. We knew they ran the run-and-jump defense and we kept driving into it and our spacing was off. I thought we did a better job of slowing down, running the offense and getting better shots.”
Maddie Foschiai scored six points in the quarter and finished with 19 points and 19 rebounds.
“She came out lights out today and was phenomenal,” Fontenot said. “She can shoot from the outside, go inside and score. Usually we play her outside, but we put her inside and she was posting up and calling for the ball. She is a good kid and works hard. Defensively she came through with the rebounds for us.”
Fairview (11-3) used the long ball to stay in the game early, drilling five 3-pointers in the first half while taking a 30-28 lead. The Panthers went cold in the second half, hitting three field goals in the third quarter and scoring eight points in each of the last two quarters.
Rylee Jinks led the Panthers with 14 points while Rylee Cloud scored eight.
Jada Gasaway scored 10 for the Rams, who had seven players get on the scoresheet.
“We’ve got numbers, I can go to the bench and the players that sub in can step up and play,” Fontenot said. “We have multiple scorers and don’t rely on one person. We are still working some kinks out defensively, but I think once we get that down, our press and aggressiveness will be a strength too.”
Fairview plays LaGrange at 5:45 p.m. today.
Westlake …………….. 54
Fairview ……………… 46