Westview 60, Sprague 34: Five Takeaways

<p>If there's anything that can be learned from Westview's opening night win over Sprague on Friday night, it's the fact that the Wildcats will need to be taken seriously this season. Westview took control early on and perhaps set a standard with a suffocating defense to cruise past the Olympians, 60-34, in a game that ended up a lot more lopsided than most people believed it would be going in.</p> <p>"We've talked about what our identity is going to be and we want it to be defense first," said Westview head coach Mike Wolf. "I told our guys at halftime that I think we'll win a lot of games if we hold teams to 16 points at the half. Offense comes and I know we can score, but they're starting to take pride in their defense which as a coach that's the thing I'm most excited about."</p> <p>While defense certainly was a huge factor - for the game Sprague only shot 25 percent from the field - Westview certainly looked good scoring the ball as well. Brady Grier led Westview with 14 points and Wayne Jamison added 11. Jalen Grable pulled down 11 rebounds and London Smalley dished out six dimes. In total, seven Wildcats hit a three-pointer. Sprague had three guys leading the way with seven points each.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Team Scoring</span></p> <p>Sprague 5 11 4 14 - 34<br /> Westview 15 17 9 16 - 60</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Individual Scoring</span></p> <p>Sprague: Greyson Salinas 7, Dallon Morgan 7, Seth Shortis 7, Mason Lomax 4, Kobe Withers 4, Hayden Cadwallader 3, Temoua Bah Kaimon 2, Camden McGrath 0, Brett Hassoun 0, David Smith 0.</p> <p>Westview: Brady Grier 14, Wayne Jamison 11, Cade Whitaker 8, Anshul Batish 7, Zach Coalson 6, Keshav Anand 6, London Smalley 3, Aldo Acosta 3, Jalen Grable 2, Nic Anderson 0, Aiden Grady 0, Connor Ordya 0, Saan Chang 0.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Takeaways</span></p> <p><strong>Westview is for Real</strong></p> <p>We were a little shocked when the OSAA coaches polls came out for 6A and Westview wasn't a unanimous member of the Top Ten. There's no question that the Wildcats are a Top Ten team and when you consider that Sprague will be a post-season team and potentially fight for the Mountain Valley Conference title, a 26-point win is quite impressive. In some ways Westview already looked as if they were in mid-season form.</p> <p><strong>Defense is the Key</strong></p> <p>Speaking of mid-season form, it was Westview's defense that was most impressive. From the jump, Sprague rarely had many good looks and the Wildcats were tough in the man-to-man whenever the Olympians tried to create off the dribble. The focus on Sprague's top two guys Mason Lomax and Kobe Withers was especially effective and in the end, the two senior stars finished a combined 2-for-21 from the field, 0-for-7 from three-point range. As a team, Sprague finished 11-for-44 from the field, 25 percent.</p> <p><strong>Balance, Balance, Balance</strong></p> <p>Head coach Mike Wolf's squad is a collection of players who all do certain things well - and in this season opener, they stuck to those things. Brady Grier scored both inside and out, London Smalley handled and passed the basketball, Jalen Grable worked the glass on both ends, Wayne Jamison did a lot of the little things, and a number of other guys hit open shots when they had them. And everyone played rock-solid defense. It was a clinic.</p> <p><strong>Sprague Will Bounce Back</strong></p> <p>While it certainly wasn't the start to the season they imagined, Sprague is for certain a playoff team. Despite their struggles in this game, Lomax and Withers are quality guards who will have some very big games this year. In many ways, Lomax was thrown off at the start as he picked up three quick fouls and spent the entire game trying to recover and Withers simply had an off night shooting the ball. Both continued to play hard throughout.</p> <p><strong>Morgan One to Watch</strong></p> <p>As one of the tallest guys in the state, Morgan obviously garners attention on that alone but the developing big man is also very skilled. He didn't get many touches until the game was already decided, but in the fourth quarter he showed off some solid post moves and also stepped out and knocked down a three-pointer. Sprague's attack will obviously be guard oriented but Morgan has the potential to make a big impact down the line.</p>