By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur
West St. John fell just short of pulling off a first round playoff upset on the road Tuesday as Westminster rallied back late to secure an 83-73 Class 1A bi-district playoff victory.
The 28th seeded Rams led by seven with four minutes left, but Chase Malbrue and Jalen Williams led No. 5 Westminster on a furious run to the final buzzer.
Malbrue scored 34 points to lead all scorers while Williams recorded 27. The two combined to score 61 of Westminster’s 83 points.
“Their two best players decided to take over,” said West St. John coach LaVanta Davis.
“They were hitting some real difficult shots. They just didn’t miss.”
Quan Scott scored 20 points to lead West St. John. Jordan Hamilton scored 15 and Brandon Matthews added 13.
Westminster (22-3) boasts one of the state’s most explosive offenses. Tuesday’s game marked the 14th time the team has scored 80 points or more.
But the Rams (8-13) kept pace for most of the night, recording their best scoring effort of the season.
“My kids played their best game of the year,” said Davis. “We were close to beating a top five seed on the road, but we just fell a little short.”
Defensively, Davis said that the Rams’ man to man attack didn’t press as much as usual but kept the pressure on in halfcourt sets.
“For three and a half quarters, it was pretty effective,” said Davis. “But again, (Malbrue and Williams) did a great job on the boards, at getting extra shots.
“We were up to the challenge, I felt. We put emphasis on stopping them in transition. We got beat a few times, but I thought we did a solid job overall.”
West St. John improved as the season went on, starting 2-7 before finishing the regular season with six wins in its final 10.
“It was like we had two totally different teams from December to district play,” said Davis. “I feel good about the kids we have coming back next year.
“You know, we had a real up and down year, but if guys come back with the right attitude, I feel like this team can do some things next season.”