Westlake girls basketball powers through challenges to beat Thousand Oaks
THOUSAND OAKS — The Westlake girls basketball team found its synergy late in the first quarter to beat Thousand Oaks, 61-37, in their quest for another undefeated Marmonte League season.
The Warriors (14-4 overall, 2-0 Marmonte League) hadn’t played a game since Tuesday because of cancelations related to concerns about the effects of the ongoing wildfires in Southern California. Illness had gone around the team, as well.
Westlake and Thousand Oaks (12-6, 1-1) agreed to play on Monday because the wildfires were east of both schools, leaving a potential power outage due to high winds as the only concern.
“We had to prepare like a normal game,” Westlake coach Josh Budde said. “We had like one and a half practices and not everybody’s healthy. You really can’t get a good practice in and (Thousand Oaks) has gotten much better.”
Mathis Dritz repeatedly drove to the paint on her way to scoring 26 points and getting Westlake in its rhythm. But it was a 3-pointer that tied the game at 13-all with 1:35 in the second quarter. Madison McDonald followed up with a layup to give the Warriors a 15-13 advantage.
Dritz was one of the players who missed the team’s previous game because of illness but had slept and hydrated enough to play a major role in Monday’s important league game.
“I’ve just learned to be patient, let the game come to me,” Dritz said. “I’m aware I’m going to get double-teamed so it’s just being strong with the ball and getting my teammates involved early in the game opens up the game.”
Thousand Oaks was tough on the boards and matched Westlake’s physicality for a competitive first quarter. They double-teamed Dritz while still applying pressure to the rest of the Warriors.
Dritz blocked a shot that would have put the Lancers within three points of tying the game with roughly 5:30 left until halftime while Taylor Swanson (17 points) went to work setting up plays and seeking out second-chance buckets.
Westlake led 30-20 at halftime.
“She’s like a Swiss Army knife,” Budde said of Swanson. “She comes in, does a little bit of everything — will block shots, rebound, get some assists, putbacks, jumpers. She can do a lot of things that help us be successful and takes pressure off some other players.”
The Warriors are now on a seven-game win streak and remain unbeaten in Marmonte League play. They were the league’s undefeated champions last season but were eliminated in the fist round of playoffs, which has lit a fire under the players.
“We were so eager to go win state this yar. We set high goals for our team and we all believe in ourselves and we think that we can accomplish them. We have a team that really enjoys working hard and getting after it and I think that’s going to open up a lot of opportunities for us.”