The W.F. West boys basketball team took the court for warm-ups in their cheeriest — or ugliest — Christmas sweaters Tuesday, and proceeded to spread the cheer around in a 73-53 win over Washougal.
And after back-to-back losses, including a rough time at Black Hills for their first league loss last Friday, the Bearcats needed that.
“We had much better energy,” W.F. West coach Chris White said. “I’m very happy with that. We got the bench involved pretty well. There was some good growth with our defensive energy, so I’m happy with that.”
That Friday loss was characterized by three main issues: trouble getting the ball inside to Soren Dalan, hesitancy from the guards to take their own shots, and turnovers. It didn’t take much time at all to see that Wednesday, the Bearcats had answers to all three.
Tyler Klatush started the scoring for W.F. West with a 3-pointer, and took off from there. By the end of the first quarter, the junior guard was up to 12 points on four triples; he finished with six 3-pointers and 22 points.
“He was really hot tonight from outside,” White said. “That’s really nice to see. We haven’t gotten hot from outside, so we appreciate a little help there.”
By the second quarter, Dalan too had hit his rhythm. The senior outscored the Panthers by himself in the period, scoring 10 of W.F. West’s 13 points from halfcourt sets.
Dalan racked up 23 points — seven off the pace his sister set earlier in the night — but did come away with a double-double, adding 12 rebounds to his line.
“He was posting aggressively, he was keeping the ball high and finishing high, attacking the catch a little bit better,” White said.
Lucas Hoff added 10 points off the bench, hitting a pair of 3-pointers of his own. Parker Eiswald had six points and five boards.
As a team, the Bearcats logged only six turnovers in the first half, and 11 on the game. On the other side of the ball, Washougal gave it away 10 times in the first 16 minutes, helping W.F. West push out to a 17-point lead at the break.
Back in the win column, W.F. West is slated to end its calendar year up with a road trip north. The Bearcats are set to go to Sequim next Tuesday, then cross the Puget Sound and play at Sedro Woolley on Wednesday.
