Warriors defeated in second round
By Wayne Harrison
wharrison@theacorn.com

The season finally came to an end for the Westlake girls’ basketball team after the Warriors lost to visiting Santa Barbara, 38-32, in a second-round California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division II-AA playoff game last week.

"It was just a hard-fought game," said Warrior coach John D’Agostin. "We really struggled in the half-court offense ... I think that’s kind of been the story of our season."

Westlake finished the season 19-9 after coming in fourth in the Marmonte League where they were 7-4.

"To hold a team like Santa Barbara to 38 points, that’s a tremendous effort," said D’Agostin. "But you’ve got to score more than 32 to win."

Down 36-32 late in the fourth quarter, Westlake had three, 3-point shot opportunities but couldn’t connect.

"We had our chances," D’Agostin said. "We did what we needed to do to get back into the game."

Westlake trailed 11-9 after one quarter, 22-15 at halftime, and 30-26 after three quarters.

"I thought tonight’s game would be a pretty even game," D’Agostin said. "And it was exactly what I expected. They do a pretty good job with their zone defense and their big kid is tough to stop. So, they did what they needed to do to win the game—they went inside and they played a great game. They were well prepared."

Maria Cordero, a 6-foot-3 center, scored 18 points for Santa Barbara and represented Santa Barbara’s inside threat.

For Westlake, Lindsey Williams and Christina Nelson each scored 10 points, Williams had 11 rebounds, Kathryn Scardino had five assists and Megan Ackerman had five rebounds.

The Warriors had beaten Santa Fe to advance to the second round.

"It was similar to this game," D’Agostin said, looking back at the win over Santa Fe. "They were very similar to Santa Barbara. They had some quick guards. They played a little bit of zone defense and some pressure defense."

Regarding the win over Santa Fe, D’Agostin said, "Santa Fe was a solid team. They were 20-4 and they were league champs, and they expected to beat up on us, and we gave them all they could handle."

Santa Barbara was able to execute better against Westlake than Santa Fe, D’Agostin said.

The Warrior coach said his team was pleased to have reached its primary goal: to make the CIF playoffs.

"Making it to playoffs was an accomplishment for us," D’Agostin said. "This year we kind of got over the hump. The last couple of years we played most teams close, but we weren’t winning most of those close games.

"This year we came out on top of a lot of the close games," added D’Agostin. "In league, instead of just coming close, we were able to win some of those key games."

The future looks bright.

"There’s a lot of positive things," D’Agostin said. "We have only one senior and we’ll have all five starters coming back. Things are looking up."

D’Agostin, who finished his fourth year as Warriors’ head coach, added, "This is by far my most satisfying year here. I can’t wait till next year."