Westlake boys get hot down the stretch to win second straight Round Rock tourney

Blake Miri never lost confidence.

Good shooters never do.

Miri, Westlake’s senior shooting guard, was cold for most of the championship game of the William Roberts Memorial Tournament on Friday at Round Rock High School, but he hit two deep 3-pointers when it mattered most and was part of an overall clutch performance by the Chaparrals down the stretch as they claimed the tournament title for the second year in a row with a 51-47 win over Harker Heights.

“I was missing shots early as they were really pressed up against me on defense, but I just had to stay confident and got them to fall at the end,” said Miri, who was named the tournament’s MVP after averaging 14.8 points and hitting 14 3-pointers in four games. “It’s great to be MVP, but I’m more happy that we were able to win the tournament as a team. There’s a lot of guys on our team that work really hard in practice and maybe don’t get a ton of minutes, but they’re working hard behind the scenes and are just as crucial to our success.”

Miri’s second 3-pointer in the fourth quarter gave Westlake (20-2) its first lead at 43-41 with less than three minutes to play.

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Gavin Paull sank three free throws after being fouled taking a shot behind the arc, then Max Purushothaman’s 3-pointer and Erik Seghers’ free throws in the final minute clinched the championship.

“We stay calm” in close games, said Paull, who led the Chaps with 17 points and joined Miri in earning a spot on the all-tournament team. “All of our preparation in practice helps us stay level-headed, and we try not to get frazzled and just try to run our offense and get the shots we had all game.”

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Harker Heights (11-6) had the better run of play for most of the first half, taking a 22-13 lead midway through the second quarter as Westlake was cold from the field and had little answer for Knights center David Punch, who led all scorers with 26 points.

But the Chaps’ defense only yielded one field goal in the final three minutes of the half, and 3-pointers from Paull and Donovan Lee helped Westlake pull within 24-21 at the break.

Paull and forward Wonder Kahozi, the only other Chap in double figures, with 12 points, were the main reasons Westlake stayed in the game on the offensive end, as they accounted for 26 of the team’s 37 points through three quarters. The Chaps entered the fourth quarter trailing by one.

And though they went scoreless for more than five minutes before Miri’s first 3-pointer of the quarter, the Chaps’ defense gave up only three points itself.

“Harker Heights is a really talented, long team that runs good stuff, so I’m just proud of our guys that when we did get down, we stuck with it and kept chipping away,” Westlake coach Robert Lucero said. “We were patient in the second half and weren’t timid to take big shots. And on defense, I thought as the game went on we did a better job of battling and didn’t let them catch the ball in good positions.”

Westlake beat Schertz John Paull II 66-48, Weiss 53-33 and Round Rock 46-45 to get to the title game, topping the host Dragons in overtime in the semifinals.

After winning last year’s first edition of the tournament, the Chaps are now 8-0 in the event.

“It’s always nice to get some hardware,” Paull said. “We get to show off all the hard work we’ve put in during practice, so winning this is big for the team. And it’s really thanks to everyone up and down the roster and all of our coaches.”

Westlake, which is 5-0 in District 26-6A, now enters a crucial week in district play, where it could have a potential showdown with Johnson next Friday in what will be a matchup of the only undefeated teams left in district play if both win Tuesday.

Lucero, who has a completely new starting lineup this year, is eager to see how the next two months play out and appreciates this edition of the Chaps as they head into the stretch run carrying an 84-game district winning streak.

“This team is growing into the season,” he said. “We’ve come a long way since the fall and are continuing to get better — and that’s what I really like about it.”

Round Rock topped Hutto 59-54 in the third-place game Thursday as Trenton Page scored 12 points and Rohit Sanivarapu added 11 points. The Dragons beat Killeen 63-29 and St. Michael’s 65-60 before their narrow loss to Westlake in the semifinals.

“All things considered, you go 3-1 in what was our most competitive tournament of the year, and you lose to the No. 4 team in the state in overtime — I feel pretty good about everything right now,” Round Rock coach Brent Murphy said. “We’re 15-5, and everybody’s come to terms with the fact that our returning all-district point guard (Jason Ward) will be out the rest of the year due to injury. Everyone has kind of rallied, and we played a gantlet of a nondistrict schedule.”

Sanivarapu and Cooper Heaton earned all-tournament honors for the Dragons, who will play Stony Point on Tuesday in a District 25-6A game that is probably the biggest game of the night in Central Texas.

J.J. Washington scored 23 points to pace Hutto (14-8) against Round Rock and also garnered a spot on the all-tournament team.

The Hippos defeated Bellaire Episcopal 78-64 and Schertz Clemens 69-44 to start their tournament before falling to Harker Heights 47-44 in the semifinals.

Cedar Ridge topped Anderson 58-54, then lost to Harker Heights 57-39 and Clemens 57-55 before edging St. Michael’s in the seventh-place game.

Nehemiah Alvarez, whom Raiders coach Quinton Black noted is known for his lockdown defense, garnered all-tournament honors for Cedar Ridge (10-10).

Weiss downed McNeil 57-55, lost to Westlake 53-33, beat St. Michael’s in overtime 57-52 and lost to Clemens 64-49.

Jerin Brown was named to the all-tournament team for the Wolves (10-12).

After a successful first two years, Murphy noted he’ll definitely keep the event going.

“There were tons of competitive games throughout the tournament, a lot of overtime games, and I like how it ended with a tight championship game,” he said. “It was well-organized, and I think we represented Coach Roberts’ name well.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Westlake's Miri sparks Chaps to back-to-back Round Rock tourney titles