Over the winter break Westside participated in the Metro Holiday tournament which is made up of teams from all around the state, depending on the class each team is part of. Coming into the tournament Westside was ranked as the best team in class A. They were the only undefeated at 6-0, including some big wins over top ten teams that got them the number one spot.
Their first game of the tournament was a rematch against Bellevue East which they took care of business in a 69-47 win with Tyson Odvody having 19 points and Lee Robinson putting up a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Their next game would be the quarterfinal matchup against Omaha North. The Vikings kept it close with it being a six point game at the end of the third quarter, but the Warriors pulled away in the fourth with some suffocating defense taking a 74-60 win into the next round. Once again Robinson had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, but Emre Gedik led the team in scoring with 22 points and Carson Healy added 19 in the win.
Westside’s toughest game of the season up to that point was next in the semi-final as they faced their biggest rival the Creighton Prep Junior Jays who were ranked number four coming into the tournament. The game went down to the wire where Prep had a one point lead with two seconds left. Healy inbounded the ball to half court where Robinson picked up the ball, dribbled a couple of times and hit a contested three at the buzzer for the 63-61 rivalry win.
“Coach told us the game wasn’t over after we got that turnover.” Robinson said “It felt great, the ball ended up in my hands and I did my thing.”
Robinson was playing in his first Holiday tournament and the freshman played lights out all tournament, being one of the teams most consistent shooters.
“We had a play and it was the same one we used against Millard North five or six years ago,” Simons said. “Prep took our first option away and the next option was Lee and he only had about two dribbles then needed to shoot.”
Westside’s championship opponent of the tournament was the sixth ranked Papillion La Vista South Titans. Westside got down early in the first but fought back for a three-point halftime lead. The game came down to the wire but the coin flipped the wrong this time for Westside as they fell 60-59 in the championship. Robinson once again had a great performance with 21 points and Healy had 10 but there were some slip ups in the fourth quarter for Westside that messed up opportunities to break away. The Titans were led by sophomore Levi Webb who had 27 points in the game. They won the battle in the fourth quarter even with a tough effort by Westside.
“We had a lot of guys who it was their first time playing in a close game and environment like this,” Simons said. “It’s going to be a wild winter, but it was great for our guys to go through this mini state tournament and play three games in four days.”
Westside had two players make the all-tournament team, Robinson who put up 20 points in all but one game and Gedik who also put up a lot of points but was the main option on a very tall Westside team.
The season for Westside is far from over and the Warriors are about to get into the hardest parts of their schedule. On the 10th of January they get a date with the Junior Jays who are looking to avenge their buzzer beater loss. The Warriors also look for revenge as they will go to play Papio South on the 17th. Westside will finish January playing five top 15 teams including three top five teams. It will be the toughest stretch of the season up to this point for the Warriors. With the “keeping undefeated” monkey off their back, they can bounce back strong.
