Westmont Exceeds Century Mark in Season-Opening Win.
MONTECITO, California – After not playing a game in front of their home fans since March 6, 2020, the Westmont Warriors (1-0) gave their crowd much cause for joy in their return Thursday night, by defeating Bethesda (0- 3) 106-82.
After taking a 50-38 lead at halftime, the Warriors had their way in the second half, in large part because of their work on the glass. At the end of the night, Westmont rebounded Bethesda 53-28.
“In all the right ways, it felt different tonight,” said Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. “Having fans, having my family in the crowd, and having the families of our players in the crowd was a lot of fun to watch.”
“On the court, winning the rebounding battle was one of our main keys going in. They had a ton of rebounds in their previous two games, so it was heartening to see our guys take them away on the glass, and on both ends of the court. court. court too.”
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A layup from Ajay Singh opened the season for the Warriors who started the night on a 12-4 streak before the first half out of Bethesda.
At the next stoppage in play, Westmont had increased his lead to 28-17, thanks to some hot shots from Nate Meithof, who scored nine points early in his Warrior debut. Another layup from Singh gave the senior 10 points in the first half and also put the club up 36-25 with 6:09 left in the period. Singh shot five of six from the field to that point in the play.
Three minutes later, Singh had scored another seven points and the Warriors led 44-31 with 3:18 to play. At the end of the half, Westmont’s offense slowed with the opportunity to put some breathing room between them and the Flames. Instead, Westmont settled for a 50-38 lead late in the period.
During the first half, Westmont had three scorers in double figures with Singh leading the way with 17. Junior guard Jared Brown also racked up 11 points at the half while leading the club with five assists. Kyler Warren, in his Westmont debut, led the club with five rebounds during the period.
As a team, Westmont rebounded Bethesda 25-12 during the period, and the Warriors were especially tight-fisted on defense, where they did not surrender a single offensive board to the Flames. The only category that didn’t favor Westmont was turnovers, where the Warriors had committed 10 compared to Bethesda’s seven.
“I felt like we were holding the lead right at 12,” Boucher said. “We had a lot of chances to get to 20, but we took too many quick shots, and we thank their shooters for keeping them within attacking distance at the end of that half.”
Four minutes into the second half, Meithof launched a dunk that gave him 15 points and also extended Warrior’s lead to 62-44. In the club’s next possession, Singh reached 20 points and in doing so increased Westmont’s lead to 20 points as well.
Jalen Townsell, another Warrior making his Westmont debut, converted a layup with 12:06 left, going into double figures before a timeout. By the next timeout, Townsell had 15 points and the Warriors led 82-64.
With 5:32 left, Brown put a Flame guard on skates on his way to a layup that gave the junior 22 points on the night and built Warrior’s lead back to 20 at 89-69.
Singh’s big night continued with 3:14 left as another layup gave the senior 27 points on the night and extended Westmont’s lead to 96-73. A minute later, Singh converted a layup, was fouled, and converted the free throw, giving him 30 equal points and pushing the Warriors past the century mark.
Moments later, the Warriors officially put their opening night game on the win column as they defeated Bethesda 106-82.
Singh led all scorers with his peers of 30, while adding six rebounds and three assists. Townsell was the only Warrior to record a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, the game’s high, while Brown led the club with six assists.
As a team, the Warriors finished with a .587 field goal percentage, while holding the Flames to a .408 clip.
“Ajay was really efficient in his scoring tonight,” Boucher said. “He was 14 of 16 shooting from the field. That means he was taking smart shots. We also had 24 assists that led to those easier shots. Jalen from the bench was really good. He had six offensive rebounds and had a lot of momentum. Block. He did. a bit of everything.
“The only thing we have to work on offensively is reducing our loss rate and taking our free throws.”
The Warriors return to the court Tuesday night when they host West Coast Baptist at 6:00 pm at Murchison Gym. Tickets are available on the Westmont Athletics website.
“Heading into Tuesday, our defense needs to move forward,” said Boucher. “Offensively, we could have played better and still scored 106. Overall, we have to build on this win, but also learn from it and hopefully come out better on Tuesday.”
She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.