Updated Thursday, March 6 at 11:40 a.m.: The NSAA released the official bracket for the NSAA Class A State Tournament yesterday, March 5. Westside received a No. 5 seed (out of eight) and will be playing the No. 4 seed Lincoln Southeast Thursday, March 13 at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln at 3:45 p.m. If the Warriors win, they move on to face the winner of the Omaha Benson vs. Lincoln Northeast game. For the full bracket, click here. 

Original Story

It wasn’t flashy, save for a coast-to-coast drive around three defenders by sophomore Trae Meeks, an alley-oop layup and a few slick passes from senior Kevin Metoyer. There was only one three. The Warriors blocked no shots and had few steals. Mostly, the Westside boys varsity basketball team worked its way to a lead by finding a way to get the ball into the paint while keeping the ball out of the paint on the other end.

Westside wore down Papillion-La Vista, slowly building a lead throughout the game, as after one quarter of basketball, the game was tied 12-12.

Then, Westside’s offense, which spread the floor to feed the ball into the post, found a rhythm. Up 21-18 with 3:14 remaining in the first half, senior Mike Kiger, who led the team with 21 points on the night, scored six straight points on three layups, putting the score at 27-20. Both teams scored two points each before heading to the half with the Warriors leading 29-22, as all of Westside’s points had come from the five starters.

The Monarchs were led by junior Tyler Dougherty, who scored 14 points in the first half, mostly from down low. Despite Dougherty’s 14 points, the Warriors played a solid first half of defense, despite Papillion-La Vista packing the paint and setting screens in traffic in the paint.

Then in the third quarter, the Warriors got it to a double-digit lead when senior Michael Herrmann, who scored 15 points of his own, found Kiger for an alley-oop layup, making the score 37-26 with 3:26 remaining in the third quarter. At the end of the third quarter, senior Keving Metoyer, who had 15 points on the night, hit a 17-foot jumper from the baseline with 40.1 seconds remaining, sending the game to the fourth quarter with the Warriors leading 42-33.

Here, the Monarchs never got the lead closer than seven. With just under four minutes remaining, Metoyer found senior Jake Meyers open down low, extending the lead to 14. Then, Papillion-La Vista went on a 9-2 run before Westside called a timeout with 2:10 remaining in the game. After the timeout, the Warriors extended the lead back to nine before Papillion-La Vista started fouling to stop the clock. The Warriors were able to put the game out of reach with free throws, and with under one minute remaining in the game, head coach Brian Nemecek sent in reserve players, as Westside went on to win 63-52 and secure a spot in the NSAA Class A Basketball State Tournament.

In the second half, Westside held Dougherty to nine, although his points were not easy baskets. Westside fronted him when he was in the post, and took a physical approach to guarding him, and it payed off, as he appeared frustrated at times.

In the meantime, Herrmann and Kiger established their post presences, helping them to combine with Metoyer to score 51 of the team’s 63 points.

In the game, Westside made only one three-pointer, which was a Herrmann triple in the second quarter.

The brackets for the state tournament have not yet been released, but we will keep you updated on that bracket. Westside joins Omaha South, Omaha Central, Omaha Benson, Bellevue West and Lincoln Northeast as teams who have secured their spots in the tournament.