HS Boys Basketball Playoffs: Intense Finish Sees Willis Clutch Out Bi-District Win

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- The Willis Wildkats ground out a gritty 54-52 win over the 14-6A Champion Westfield Mustangs in an electrifying Bi-District matchup on Tuesday night.

Willis aimed for a strong rebound to open the postseason following the team’s disappointing, season-closing loss to Grand Oaks on February 7th.

Over a week to prepare for the District Champion out of 14-6A gave the Wildkats time to strategize for one of their toughest matchups of the season.

In an exclusive interview with The Woodlands Online Sports, Willis Head Coach Wayne Ware discussed the practices leading up to the team’s date with the Mustangs.

“We mainly stayed focused and worked hard on fundamental basketball,” said Ware. “Not so many three-point shots, and working on getting the ball in the paint.”

The work the Wildkats put in during the lengthy break paid off, as they built early momentum against a Westfield team that looked out of it compared to the already sprinting Wildkats.

Suffocating early defense from Willis in the first quarter kept the Mustangs from generating any feasible momentum.

Hands inside of passing lanes and a handful of steals by the Wildkat defenders in the open floor sank multiple Westfield possessions before they even reached the three-point line. What possessions did work for Westfield usually ended in misses and no offensive rebounds, keeping the Mustangs as a one-and-done offense.

The relentless Willis defense kept the Mustangs scoreless for the first four minutes of the game, giving the Wildkats a strong opening to create early separation.

Steals in the open floor created fastbreaks for the flashy Willis guards. These transition runners worked in tandem with one another to get past what few defenders were down the floor for Westfield to set up increasingly easy layups.

The combination of Wildkat defense and transition layups rewarded Willis with an opening 8-0 run that served as a strong cushion once Westfield started to wake up.

Westfield’s preferred method for securing points was to rely on their size advantage inside the paint to snag looks around the rim. The outsized Wildkat defenders were bodied into weak defensive stances that gave the Mustang bigs easy windows to go off the backboard.

The Mustang inside game was strong enough to nearly wipe away the Wildkat lead, but the size of the lead and some critical makes by Willis secured a 13-8 lead headed into the second quarter.

Back-and-forth scoring to start the second quarter demonstrated the excellent adjustments made by both teams to overcome the early advantages each other held. Willis’ press was undone by quick passing and Westfield’s bigs were crowded in the paint by multiple Wildkat defenders.

“If you have a six-eight kid, it’s really hard to stop that,” said Ware. “We just wanted to stay behind him, and every time he got the ball, in came our double team to make him kick it out.”

Solving presses by both teams rapidly increased the pace of the game which benefitted the Mustangs and their quick offense. Without time for the WIldkats to get set on defense, dump passes inside the key set up the Mustang bigs with more opportunities to feast on mismatches.

Luckily for the Wildkats, fouls committed by the Mustang bigs forced the Westfield coaching staff to pull them with the game in the balance.

Willis took advantage of the more evenly matched size game by keeping the scoring even through hard-nosed drives at the rim on their possessions.

The rapid succession of points, fouls, and ties built tension inside The Woodlands High School gym with each second that passed. Three ties and three lead changes highlighted this even play, but it was the Mustangs who took a slight edge into the halftime locker rooms.

The 26-25 Mustang lead was their second of the game, but it was evidence of a momentum builder that Westfield had been looking for since their first-quarter struggles.

“At halftime, we just told them to have fun with it,” said Ware. “All we had to do was take care of the basketball and not take so many low-percentage shots.”

Unlike the quick scoring that littered the second quarter, it took over a minute to secure the first points of the third.

Tyshon Nixon was relentless on his early drives to the basket that weaved through the reaching hands of Mustang defenders for increasingly tough looks.

Nixon’s layup through traffic was the catalyst that woke up both offenses in another seesaw of a quarter that witnessed a further nine lead changes in eight minutes.

Reawoken shooting from the Wildkats snagged important makes from range, including a transition three from Chandler Beasley that served as the team’s first make from behind the arch.

Westfield responded with their expected inside game but rebounds on the offensive glass served to create second-chance opportunities in the heart of the Wildkat defense.

Reliability in the Mustang’s approach ensured that the team kept their pace, but the ceaseless attack from the Widlakts, and Nixon in particular, put Willis on a similar scoring trajectory well past the midpoint of the third.

The few dead-balls meant that the players that stayed on the floor were increasingly gassed as the quarter went on, but there was no indication of slowed-up play demonstrated by either side.

Having played fast-tempo games during district play, the Wildkats were closer to home when it came to their execution. Willis’ conditioning was highlighted by a momentum-swinging 6-0 run that put the team up by its largest margin since the first quarter, but it only lasted momentarily.

More offensive rebounds by the Mustangs, including and-ones, erased most of the Willis traction, but not before the quarter ended in a close 40-39 Wildkat lead.

“Our strategy was to just get downhill and into the lane,” said Ware ahead of the fourth. “If the big kid stays off, shoot it. If he comes over to help, we dish it off.”

Ear-shattering yells from both sides welcomed the teams to the floor to start the fourth quarter, ushering in a tension-filled final eight minutes.

Westfield rode an eventual 7-0 run from the end of the third quarter into the fourth. The lead-snagging run included a three that revamped the Mustang crowd, but the shifting momentum swung right back to the Wildkats as it had since the opening tip.

Nixon continued to produce in the clutch by putting pressure on defenders through his determined drives. When he wasn’t getting layups or forcing defenders to foul, he was stretching the floor to drain an important three that put Willis back up 47-46.

Jackson Day followed his teammate’s lead by turning an open lane into a right-handed layup that fueled another committed Wildkat run.

The contributions of three different Wildkats built a game-high 10-0 run from Willis built sizable momentum and a six-point lead for the underdogs out of 13-6A.

The Mustangs ended the impressive run with a corner three that brought the game back to one possession, but less than three minutes remaining meant Westfield needed to emphasize each possession as a piece of their hopeful comeback.

A make inside the lane gave Westfield a one-point deficit, but a brutal goal-tending on the team’s next offensive possession prevented the lead change before the final minute of play.

Fortunately for the Mustangs, a steal sprung the team on a fastbreak that aimed to snag the lead nearly last minute, but a smart foul by Beasly forced the sprinting Mustang to earn his points on the free throw line.

A one-for-two outing from the charity stripe notched the teams even at 52 apiece, but it gave the ball back to the Wildkats with less than 50 seconds left to crown a winner in regulation.

“It felt exciting to them,” said Ware discussing the intense close. “I wanted to take control of the moment and make sure that we set up a play, and that the play goes through S.J. [Young].”

Coach Wade’s decision to call a timeout with 46 seconds left keyed up an opportunity for the Wildkats to call up the exact play needed to potentially seal the win.

Despite the stated plan to feed Young, Nixon called his own number in the clutch and drove to the hoop for an acrobatic layup. A resounding cheer filled the gym following Nixon’s clutch make through traffic, giving himself 20 on the night and his team a 54-52 lead with less than 10 seconds.

“That was probably the best game he played all year for us,” said Ware commending his dual-sport guard. “To me, it felt like he did not want to go home tonight.”

Westfield’s last chance to tie or win the game before the end of regulation was just as trusted as Willis’ strategy.

The Mustangs went to their big to attempt an alley-oop before zeroes, but the most timely defense possible for Willis swatted the attempt at the rim to end the game in an incredibly tight 54-52 Wildkat win.

The loaded Wildkat side of the stands erupted in a final cheer to celebrate the win with the team that secured a historic moment for the Willis basketball program.

Willis’ first playoff win as a 6A program came incredibly, but the task of continuing the playoff run comes in the Area Round. Issues faced in round one will need to be tackled in practice to ensure that the journey continues.

“Rebounding,” said Ware emphatically when discussing the team’s issues. “Westfield came in the second and third quarters and got on the boards. That really hurt us.”

Willis’ next matchup comes in the Area Round where they will face the Cypress Springs Panthers with the date to be determined.