On Friday, Feb. 23, the varsity boys’ basketball team went up against the number four team in the state for their second round of playoffs, the Spring Dekaney Wildcats. Although the Warriors lost, they put up a great fight, ending their season with 24 wins of 36 total games.

Kicking it off in the first quarter, the Warriors were unable to send in a basket, causing some stress to linger until, Christian Robinson ‘20 drove up a layup in the last two minutes of the quarter. As the quarter began to dwindle down, Brandon Parks ‘20 scored a floater within the last seconds, ending the quarter down 14-4.

Coming strong into the second quarter, Zach Shrull ‘19 got fouled going two for two with his free throws. For the next three minutes of the quarter, Daniel Victor ‘18 drained in a total of five points for the Warriors, sending the Warriors behind by only 10. Corey Levinson ‘19 immediately assisted Parks for a layup, ending the quarter with the Warriors still behind 36-18.

In the first few seconds, Mason Flood ‘19 drove down for a layup, sending the crowd to their feet. Latham Robinson ‘18 then stole the ball back from the Wildcats, running down the court, and draining a three-pointer with 6:45 left on the clock. Immediately, Victor laid up the ball back to back, stacking up points on the board for the Warriors. As the quarter came to a close, Robinson  shot a staggering three-pointer, ending the third quarter down, 50-38.

With many passes between Warriors for the first two minutes, unable to score, Patrick Slakek ‘19 floated in a two-pointer. Victor then got fouled back to back, allowing him to send in three points. In the last minute, Robinson ‘18 and Sladek drained two threes, ending the game and season for the Warriors 70-52.

At the end of the season, the captains had a few things to share:

“This season was a great success and one of the best ever, the best moment for me at least was winning the Leander tournament because I think it’s been awhile since Westwood has won one, and going to the second round of the playoffs was a special experience too,” Robinson said. “The worst moment was going on a four game losing streak in the middle of districts but being able to bounce back from that and win three in a row to make playoffs says a lot about our determination. This season was even more special for me since I was one of the captains, and helped lead us to the best season Westwood has ever had under Coach Hastings, I’m proud of our accomplishments.”

“The season overall was great because we were able to beat some really good teams and ended up with a pretty good record. It was also fun to grow closer to everyone on the team and now we all have a close relationship with each other,” Victor said. “This senior season was special because we made playoffs and went to second round. That was our goal from the beginning of the season and we made it happen so that was amazing.”