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WILLIAMSPORT — The talent has always been there for Westfall. But being consistent has been the team’s biggest downfall.
SOSA File Photo
However, if the Mustangs begin to string some wins together, consider Friday their turning point.
Westfall (4-3, 3-1 SVC) wore down Paint Valley, outscoring the Bearcats by a 34-17 margin in the second half on Friday to earn its biggest win of the season by a 57-41 final.
The outcome marks Paint Valley’s first loss in Scioto Valley Conference play this winter.
“This was easily the best game we’ve played all season, and we put a big focus all week on making sure we got Brody [Clark] and Casey [Cline] in a rhythm from the beginning,” Westfall coach Christian Meister said. “But I was also proud of our unselfishness, and that’s the word I’d use to describe this team. I couldn’t be more proud of how our kids came together in a big game like tonight.”
The Mustangs weren’t gun shy at all in the first half as they attempted 12 3-point field goals and connected on four of them, including Clark hitting a pair to open the game and help put his team ahead 13-11.
But Paint Valley (5-3, 3-1 SVC) answered with back-to-back buckets from Braylon Robertson and Cavan Cooper to put PV ahead 15-14 after the first.
Later tied at 16-16 in the second, Paint Valley’s Todd Fairrow logged back-to-back baskets to make it a 20-16 game in the Bearcats’ favor.
Westfall managed to piece together a 7-2 run to take a lead, but PV’s Carson Free got a rebound and a put back at the buzzer for a 24-23 Bearcat lead at halftime.
Sensing the Bearcats were starting to get fatigued, the Mustangs shifted into overdrive and began to turn up the heat in the third.
They got out in transition, abandoned shooting from deep unless the attempt was wide open and attacked the rim with purpose. Seth Gifford and Blaec Bugher converted at the rim to put the Mustangs up 31-29, and they didn’t look back.
“That’s our thing. We want to get out and run. We know we’re not as big and strong as some other teams, but our conditioning is what wins us games,” Meister said. “In the first half, we ran but Paint Valley was getting back on defense. We noticed they were getting tired at halftime since they aren’t as deep. I thought Casey did a great job of attacking and Blaec did a great job of staying patient, running the offense and attacking when his opportunities came.”
Behind Bugher and Cline, WF ended the frame on a 12-2 run to take a 39-31 lead into the fourth.
With momentum on their side, Cline and Gifford continued to attack the basket to push the lead into double digits. Then Clark buried a triple for a 47-33 lead and they put things into cruise control the rest of the way.
“We did some stuff that we’ve never shown on film defensively, even though we’re typically a man-to-man half-court defense,” Meister said. “We want to be great at that part before trying something different, and I felt through six games that we did that. We’re holding teams to under 45 points per game this season. We worked in some traps, zone and press defense, and I thought the kids did a great job with it.”
Cline finished with a game-high 22 points alongside seven rebounds and three assists for the Mustangs and was followed by Clark, who had 17 points and four rebounds. Gifford added nine points and seven boards.
For Paint Valley, Estep led the way with 10 points and nine rebounds, and Robertson added eight points to the mix.
Westfall returns to action on Tuesday playing host to Huntington in SVC play while Paint Valley hosts Piketon that same evening.
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