Westlake High Basketball Team Notches 11th Win

The Eagles were looking to split the series, but the Demons came out ready to play. Cal Reghi drove to the lane to get the Demons on the board. The Eagles jumped out to an early lead, but Justin Garcia hit a 3 followed by a steal by Dylan Bednar for another Garcia bucket to make it a 2 point game. Avon continued to press this quarter and took a 6 point lead to close it out 22-16.

19 points from Justin Garcia led Westlake past Avon to notch the Demon’s 11th win of the year last night.

Westlake played great defense and Tyler Kolocouris opened up the 2nd quarter with a steal. Garcia shot another 3 and then Klima, with 8 points this quarter, had a fast break for the bucket and one. Klima hit back to back shots to take the lead and a put back by Blake Wolfe helped Westlake take a one point lead into halftime 37-36.

The Demons were on fire in the 3rd quarter and went on a 10-0 run as Garcia scored 2, followed by a deep 3 to start the momentum. Westlake had many steals and crashed the boards, but the Eagles closed the gap to take over the game and the Demons were down by 4 points going into the final quarter 54-50.

Three words to describe the 4th quarter… Senior Joe Klessel. After Klima went coast to coast, followed by a steal and bucket by Will Ostrowski, Klessel took command of the 4th quarter. Klessel was a beast under the basket and scored 3 times in a row for the Demons. Garcia, Westlake’s leading scorer and rebounder, fouled out with 4 ½ minutes left to go in the game. Klessel, along with Bednar, Kolocouris, Klima and Ostrowski pulled together on the court to fight back against the Eagles. Just when the fans thought the game was going into overtime, Ostrowski found Klessel under the basket for the win at the buzzer.

Garcia scored 19, followed by Klessel with a season high 14, Klima 14, Kolocouris 8, Ostrowski 7, Bednar 5, Charlie Zkiab, Reghi and Wolfe scored 2 points each.

The Demons are 11-6 (9-5 conference) and play at home on Friday, February 7 against North Ridgeville as both teams come together for Coaches vs. Cancer Night.

The 2020 Westlake Hall of Fame Inductees will also be announced during halftime. Tip Off is at 7:15.