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One more step: West Mesquite takes care of Hillcrest to move closer to regional tournament
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
There have been ups and downs this season, but West Mesquite has stayed focused on its main goal.
A year after making it to the regional tournament for the first time, the Wranglers have been motivated to not only return, but to go even further.
West Mesquite took the next step toward doing just that on Friday as it posted a 55-46 victory over Hillcrest in a Class 4A area round playoff game at Ellis Davis Field House.
The Wranglers led 28-18 at halftime, and while Hillcrest (10-14) made a run to get to within five at the end of three quarters, West Mesquite was able to hold on and advance.
"We played well through the first two quarters," West Mesquite head coach Todd Brewer said. "We had them down and they came back a little bit but we were able to make some free throws."
After defeating Frisco Wakeland in the bi-district round, West Mesquite was not facing the opponent they might have expected.
Hillcrest knocked off Carter, the No. 2 team in the state, in its opening-round game and they were gunning for their second straight upset victory.
The Panthers slowed down the Wranglers, who were the top-scoring team in 10-4A, but it was not enough at the end, as Braylon Rayson scored 24 points and Jalen Etienne added 13.
"We want to be able to play whatever the pace, fast, slow, medium," Brewer said. "We were able to get some easy baskets, not as many as we would have liked, but we had some games like this in district where we were able to win at a slower pace so I think we were prepared for it."
West Mesquite now moves on to another Dallas ISD team in Woodrow Wilson, who was the runner-up in District 12-4A.
The Wranglers reached this point a year ago and were able to break through and advance to the regional tournament. They are hoping that being here before pays dividends next week.
"Any kind of experience you have or you can get is going to be valuable," Brewer said. "We don't want to stop playing and we need to play like that."
Follow Devin Hasson on Twitter: @DevinHasson
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