High school girls basketball: Westlake extinguishes Bingham’s second-half rally for win

One of 6A’s premier teams, Westlake, has been rolling for nearly two months now. The Thunder won 13 consecutive games and shot to the top of Region 2.

But for the first time since early December, Westlake lost 50-47 against Region 2 foe Cedar Valley on Tuesday. It was its first in-region loss all year.

With the state tournament just around the corner, the Thunder regained focus and convincingly beat Bingham 48-36 Thursday night.

“I think the mentality shifted a little bit after Tuesday’s loss,” said Westlake head coach Charlotte Macfarlane. “You could see a little bit of defeatedness on our kids.

“When we walked into practice on Wednesday, it’s a little cheesy, but we talked about having a lion’s mentality and hunting with a pack and knowing that I’m not in it by myself, but I have a teammate with me.”

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The Thunder dominated the first half in virtually every way Thursday. The defense was stifling and forced Bingham to turn the ball over 11 times. The Thunder also forced Bingham into late shot-clock situations, which culminated in poor-quality shots for the Miners.

Meanwhile, Westlake’s offense was flowing, as the Thunder had no issues moving the ball around and getting shots at the rim and at the 3-point line, with Avery Thompson getting the shooting started with two makes from distance in the first quarter.

Macfarlane also runs a deep rotation, and plenty of Westlake players got quality shots at the rim for a dominant 30-13 halftime lead.

“We had a couple turnovers right off the bat, but I think we were able to swing back and say, ‘We have confidence in ourselves, and we know each other and will fight for each other,’” said Westlake’s Isley Sauvao, who led the way in scoring with 14 points.

The second half wasn’t quite as pretty for the Thunder. They stretched the lead from 17 to 19 points, but a change in Bingham’s defensive scheme started to present trouble.

Westlake’s offense completely stagnated in the fourth quarter, where it scored only six points.

“The ball was sticking,” Macfarlane said. “At halftime, we talked about how if we share the ball, everything’s going to be open.

“I think the zone shift from Bingham, going from the man in the first half to the switch of the zone in the second half, confused us for a little bit, and we were less confident in our decisions. Shout out to (Bingham) coach (Hector) Marquez. He slowed us down for a little bit.”

Bingham tried its best to get back into the game, but it couldn’t break through the Thunder’s defense enough to really dig out of the hole, as the closest it got was to within 10.

Sauvao scored all six points for Westlake in the fourth quarter to keep its double-digit lead alive.

The Thunder are fighting for a Region 2 title with Cedar Valley, as both teams sit 9-1 in-region. Both have only two regular season games left, and then they each look forward to the state tournament.

“If we are one heart and one mind as a team, then we just live with the results,” Macfarlane said. “When we’ve been good this year, it’s because we’re playing as one on the court. When we’ve kind of struggled, is when we start to disconnect and play as individuals.

“So really, our mentality is we come out and do what we can do as a team and as a combined unit. If we can do that we’re going to be happy and satisfied with the results.”