By Michael Adams
Austin Sports Journal

BUDA — Westlake didn’t just win Saturday’s Class 6A Division II Region IV championship.

The Chaparrals put on a basketball clinic.

Behind a blistering first quarter that effectively ended the suspense before the opening eight minutes were complete, Westlake rolled past Converse Judson 61-38 at Hays High School, punching its ticket to the state semifinals for the first time since 2003.

At 39-0, the Chaparrals are now the winningest team in any sport in Westlake history, and are two wins away from the program’s first girls basketball state championship since 1996.

“We don’t think about it,” Westlake head coach Vickie Benson said of the pressure of perfection. “All year long, we’ve talked about what does it take to be a champion. And it’s not the championship, it’s all the days that lead up to that. So we work on just act like a champion every day.”

A first-quarter avalanche

Westlake built a 13-point lead in the first four minutes and, aside from one miss in its first seven attempts, simply couldn’t be stopped.

The Chaparrals were a stunning 13-of-15 from the field in the first six minutes, surging ahead 26-6 with 2:19 left in the opening quarter.

By the end of the period, it was 25-9 and the game felt over.

“The game was over after the first quarter in most people’s opinion,” Tamia King said. “Honestly, we were just having fun out there. All of our teammates were knocking down shots. Our defense was good.”

Westlake buried nine 3-pointers in the game, including four from Peyton Hensle and three from Townsend Hamilton, including a buzzer beater before halftime.

The Chaparrals led 32-12 midway through the second quarter and stretched the margin to 45-18 at halftime when Brooklyn Lee drilled a buzzer-beating 3.

Judson (31-7) never recovered from the early onslaught.

Delaney Arredondo scored all but four of the Rockets’ first-half points and finished with a game-high 23, but Westlake’s defensive pressure limited everyone else.

Highlights

Poise through adversity

Even when adversity briefly surfaced, Westlake stayed composed.

With 2:30 left in the third quarter, both Geralynn Byers-Veal and King were saddled with three fouls. The Rockets trimmed the deficit to 56-33 by the end of the third, and the first four minutes of the fourth quarter produced just two combined points.

But the Chaparrals never allowed momentum to truly shift.

“We just know everybody’s going to try to stop our big three in the paint, and our shooters are ready,” Benson said. “They come ready every single game. Our players just trust each other so much.”

King led Westlake with 16 points, Hensle added 14, Wynne Thorne scored 12 and Hamilton chipped in 11. Byers-Veal and Molly Frazier each added four.

For King, who missed her freshman season with a knee injury, the moment carried extra meaning.

“It’s so incredibly special to me,” she said. “Freshman year, I was on the sidelines with a knee injury. Just to be here with all my teammates, we all love each other. It fills my heart so much.”

More photos

Eyes still forward

The Chaparrals have not reached the state semifinals in more than two decades. Now they return unbeaten, battle-tested and carrying the weight and opportunity of history.

But if you ask them, the record is irrelevant.

“We went into the playoffs thinking all of our records are 0-0,” King said. “There’s still work to do.”

That mindset – more than the hot shooting, more than the undefeated mark – may be what makes this Westlake team different.

They’ve made history and are one of two remaining undefeated teams in the state along with Class 1A Gordon (34-0).

Now they’re chasing something bigger.

The Chaparrals will play Pearland Shadow Creek (33-4) in the state semifinals.

Box score

	1	2	3	4	F
Converse Judson	9	9	15	5	38
Westlake	25	20	11	5	61

Westlake (39-0): Tamia King 16, Peyton Hensle 14, Wynne Thorne 12, Townsend Hamilton 11, Geralyn Byers-Veal 4, Molly Frazier 4

Converse Judson (31-7): Delaney Arredondo 23, Brookly Hawkins 6, Anaya Williams 3, Maddison Castillo 4, Imani Ceasar 2

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