2012 PG 5'11" Paul Baxter of Austin Bowie
2009 W Isiah Collier of Austin Bowie
11 AM TuesdayCrucial District matchup tonight. Westlake goes on the road to play in Bowie's "cozy" gym. Texas Basketball Inc. will be in the Bulldog's rockin' house for what should be an interesting matchup. Bowie will be sure to attempt to slow down the leading scorer in the Austin Metro, Westlake's 2010 PG Cody Doolin, (19.6 ppg) who dropped 43 points on Akins last week. It's doubtful that the winning team will score 43 tonight with Bowie trying to dictate tempo. Should be an interesting contrast between a team who likes to run and press fullcourt (Westlake) with one that wants to zone you defensively and who will also work through their offense methodically through countless screens until they get the shot they want (Bowie). See you at the game! Bowie needs a big game on the boards from 2010 P, tough guy Deandre Perry. Should be a battle.
Tuesday 8PM
Should be a battle huh? So much for predictions. The most excitement of the night was in the JV game where both schools put some talented underclassmen on display, showing that the cupboard will not be bare anytime soon for either of them. The home team led for most of the game until Westlake hit a three pointer to go up by one with 5 seconds left. Bowie Freshman Paul Baxter then went coast to coast and hit a runner at the buzzer for the Bowie win 57-56. Look for Baxter, and fellow 2012 frosh P 6'6" Drew Wikelius of Westlake to be added to our Texas/Louisiana Player Database tomorrow as both have a chance to be outstanding prospects. Wikelius is so talented that he could be the best post man to play at Westlake when all is said and done. He's projected to be around the 7 foot mark. Who else has been a prominent Chaps "big" in the past? Try 7 footer Chris Mihm who is making a pretty penny these days in the NBA.
Speaking of The Baxter's; you had 2012 Paul starring for the freshman squad,
2009 Ryan a big contributor in the varsity game and then Poppa Bear Ron Baxter handling admissions at the door. The 6'4" Patriarch hooped for the Longhorns back in the day. He came here from Cali, and never left. It was a great night for both of his boys. Ron was a banger back in the day and backed down from nobody in the paint.
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In the varsity encounter Westlake came out gunning and jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead. After that, it was Bowie's game. Several things contributed to the convincing Bowie win. First, and most importantly Bowie's success over the years has come from their commitment to defense. Expect nothing less from Coach Celester Collier's crew. Morphing between a 2-3 zone & a matchup zone it was clear from the onset that the strategy was to make PG Cody Doolin work for everything he got and to limit his penetration.
Credit Senior G Aaron Urbanus with taking on much of that responsibility along with great help defense from his team mates. Not easily rattled as the defense collapsed on him, Doolin consistently got the ball to open team mates in the corners. I did not keep a specific count of team three pointers attempted, but other than Doolin I believe the rest of the team was about 3-18 from beyond the arc. When a team zones you, and you can't throw it in the ocean, you're going to lose more times than not.
Bowie had a great overall team effort. Their help defense as noted was excellent and they barely broke a sweat in breaking Westlake's full court zone press. The Bulldogs were simply too disciplined a team and kept their spacing and composure when confronted with pressure in the backcourt. On the offensive end, Bowie used great ball rotation to get the looks they wanted and they were on fire from beyond the arc.
2010 G 6'5" Trey Lindsey led the way for Bowie with 5 triples. Lindsey had a frustrating sophomore campaign where he faced assorted injuries at the high school as well as during most of the club season as well. A good portion of that can be attributed to the 5 quick inches of growth that he had. Tonight I loved the high release point and rotation he showed on his shot, but what surprised me was the ability he showed to turn the corner using several power dribbles and to pull up for the midrange opportunity. As he continues to gain strength and grow into his body he'll be a tough matchup at the off guard spot.
Leading scorers for Westlake were Doolin with 21, and Conner Kemper with 11. Carl Meyertons had 7 rebounds.
Bowie had much better balance with Lindsey leading the way with 15 points, Isiah Collier with 12, 2009 W Ryan Baxter with 10, and 2009 PG Aaron Urbanus dropping 9. The Bulldogs also did a great job of rebounding by committee.
Some final thoughts:
1. 6'9" Gus Leeper could have used some additional touches. He did have 3 blocks defensively, but only attempted 2 shots on the offensive end.
2. Bowie served notice that 25-5A is not a foregone conclusion. Westlake must take care of Pflugerville this Friday night, or they're going to face a much tougher playoff road.
Credit Senior G Aaron Urbanus with taking on much of that responsibility along with great help defense from his team mates. Not easily rattled as the defense collapsed on him, Doolin consistently got the ball to open team mates in the corners. I did not keep a specific count of team three pointers attempted, but other than Doolin I believe the rest of the team was about 3-18 from beyond the arc. When a team zones you, and you can't throw it in the ocean, you're going to lose more times than not.
Bowie had a great overall team effort. Their help defense as noted was excellent and they barely broke a sweat in breaking Westlake's full court zone press. The Bulldogs were simply too disciplined a team and kept their spacing and composure when confronted with pressure in the backcourt. On the offensive end, Bowie used great ball rotation to get the looks they wanted and they were on fire from beyond the arc.
2010 G 6'5" Trey Lindsey led the way for Bowie with 5 triples. Lindsey had a frustrating sophomore campaign where he faced assorted injuries at the high school as well as during most of the club season as well. A good portion of that can be attributed to the 5 quick inches of growth that he had. Tonight I loved the high release point and rotation he showed on his shot, but what surprised me was the ability he showed to turn the corner using several power dribbles and to pull up for the midrange opportunity. As he continues to gain strength and grow into his body he'll be a tough matchup at the off guard spot.
Scoring by quarters. Westlake 12 6 13 10 Total 41 Bowie 19 16 8 14 Total 57
Leading scorers for Westlake were Doolin with 21, and Conner Kemper with 11. Carl Meyertons had 7 rebounds.
Bowie had much better balance with Lindsey leading the way with 15 points, Isiah Collier with 12, 2009 W Ryan Baxter with 10, and 2009 PG Aaron Urbanus dropping 9. The Bulldogs also did a great job of rebounding by committee.
Some final thoughts:
1. 6'9" Gus Leeper could have used some additional touches. He did have 3 blocks defensively, but only attempted 2 shots on the offensive end.
2. Bowie served notice that 25-5A is not a foregone conclusion. Westlake must take care of Pflugerville this Friday night, or they're going to face a much tougher playoff road.
3. I expected P Deandre Perry to be a problem for Westlake on the boards, but he did not see near the amount of court time I was anticipating. This also bodes well for Bowie as they attempt to season some of their bench players for the stretch run.
