Austin Westlake beats Akins, clinches share of 8th straight District 26-6A title
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Westlake closed out the regular season with a 66-47 victory over Austin Akins to clinch a share of the District 26-6A title Friday on senior night at Al Bennett Court.
The Chaparrals finished their district slate with a 14-2 record, securing at least a share of the District 26-6A championship for the eighth straight season.
Earlier in the week, the Chaps avenged a first round district loss to Austin Johnson with a 58-55 home victory over the Jaguars to stay atop the district standing heading into Friday’s regular-season finale.
Austin Westlake (30-4) had three players reach double figures in scoring, paced by senior guard Blake Miri with 18 points. Miri was a factor throughout the game but set the tone early in the opening quarter, pouring four field goals to help the Chaps take a 15-6 edge.
Wonder Kahozi, who is Austin Westlake’s big man in the paint, dominated inside and finished with 16 points. Kahozi has been the Chaps inside presence all season long and Friday night was no different as he consistently worked the paint for a basket.
Austin Akins got some momentum in the second quarter and outscored the Chaps 12-8. Caleb Hernandez had a pair of baskets to lead the Eagle’s offense.
The Chaps held a 23-18 halftime lead. Austin Westlake utilized the 10 minute break to find their rhythm on offense and the second half aerial attack. They opened the second half with a 7-0 run on baskets by Erik Seghers, and Kahozi as Austin Westlake opened up a 30-18 edge at the 5:41 mark.
The Eagles found some offensive success on back-to-back baskets by Justin Gonzalez and a 3-pointer Jordan Correra to cut the lead to 30-23. Austin Westlake head coach Roberto Lucio took a time out to talk things over with the Chaps, who came out of the huddle fired up.
After Austin Akins' Jammal Loving scored a basket, the Chaps went off from the 3-point line.
Junior point guard Gavin Paull scored on a layup and then went to the 3-point line on the next possession, as the Chaps built a 35-25 lead with 1:55 left in the third quarter.
On the next Chaps' possession, it was Miri who pulled the trigger from beyond the arc as the Chaps took a 38-25 lead with 51 seconds left on the clock.
Christian Serrano scored on a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in the third quarter to make it a 10-point ball game but it was Miri, who came up with a basket with 2 seconds left as Austin Westlake led 40-28 heading into the final frame.
Austin Akins fought all the way until the final second of the game as Austin Westlake continued to press on offense to add to its lead. The Chaps built a 56-36 lead on a basket by senior guard Henry Villarreal with 3:33 on the clock, who added a triple to extend Asutin Wetslake's command of the game.
Akins' Michael Eveleth caught fire from the 3-point line too shortly thereafter.
Eveleth connected on a trio of 3-pointers for the Eagles with his last one coming as time expired in the game to close the gap on Austin Westlake, but ran out of time before making a bigger dent in the Chaps' lead.
Austin Westlake (30-4, 14-2) has concluded district play in a tie for first place with Buda Johnson (27-4, 13-2) in the District 26-6A standings.
Westlake can clinch an outright district title and 26-6A's top playoff seed heading into the postseason with a Buda Johnson loss to the Del Valle Cardinals (7-19, 2-13) in their final regular-season game at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14, in Buda.
Austin Akins (13-18, 2-13) will wrap up its regular-season slate against the Lake Travis Cavaliers (25-7, 12-3) at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14, in Austin.
Check out SBLive's exclusive photo gallery from the game:
PHOTO GALLERY — AUSTIN WESTLAKE 66, AUSTIN AKINS 47
All photos by Clara Sandoval
