On Friday, the varsity boys’ basketball team hosted the Rouse Raiders.

It was a must-win game for the Westwood Warriors, a game that would set the bar high for the upcoming schedule against the undefeated McNeil Mavericks.

As of Friday, the Warriors stood 4-4 in district, while Rouse stood 6-2;  the game would determine who had a better chance of making playoffs. Tip-off began and the Warriors came into the game with high hopes.

“I’m always confident and never go into a game with my back against the wall,” Julian Hodges ‘16 said. “I know what my team is capable of and I know we can get the job done no matter the circumstances.”

Emotions running high, the Warriors were down by 8 in the first quarter, with a score of 12-20. Regrouping in the second quarter Hodges and Colton Hendricks worked to get the Warriors back in the lead with the score at halftime being 28-26.

“First off, Julian and myself have very good chemistry and we feed really well off of one another,” Colton Hendricks ‘16 said. “Whenever one of us hits a shot, it gets the other going in my opinion. Also, Julian and I have a very good pick-and-roll game which gives us a lot of open shots. Now individually, I thought I played as hard as I could, whether that be offensively or defensively.”

Keeping the pace that was set in the second quarter, the Warriors would go on to keep the lead in the third with the score being 43-37. Coming into the fourth quarter the Warriors battled on to get the win 58-55. Coming off this win would set the motivation for the Warriors to challenge the Mavericks Tuesday.

“To beat McNeil, we need to make sure that they don’t get out to an early lead,” Hendricks said. “If we keep it close throughout the first half, we have a real chance to win, ‘cause we thrive as a team in the third and fourth quarters. As long as we play together as a team and knock down a couple shots, we have a real chance to leave the field house with a W on Tuesday.”