Westlake, LBJ win opening playoff games

Ranked Chaparrals, Jaguars advance to area round.

A pair of local district champions survived some anxious moments Monday night before winning their opening games in the UIL boys basketball playoffs.

LBJ, which shared the District 25-5A title with Reagan, fended off Alamo Heights 71-68 at Lehman High School.

The Jaguars (23-5) raced to a 13-point lead in the first quarter, but Alamo Heights (20-13) trailed by only one after three quarters.

Point guard Shasirae Harvey had 28 points and five steals to lead the Jaguars, who were ranked 13th in the latest Class 5A state poll released by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.

LBJ will play San Antonio Houston or Richmond Foster in the area round.

While District 25-6A champion Westlake didn’t have to sweat out a game in the closing minutes, the Chaparrals did have to work for a 62-51 victory over San Antonio Johnson in a bi-district matchup at New Braunfels High School.

Johnson, the fourth-place finisher in District 26-6A, never led but did pull within three points late in the first half.

The Chaparrals (26-6), who are ranked 12th in the TABC Class 6A state poll, responded by building a 45-31 lead in the second half behind 18 points from Keonte Kennedy.

Westlake advanced to face Converse Judson or San Antonio Clark in the area round. Those teams met Tuesday night in a bi-district playoff.

In another Class 5A bi-district contest, Crockett — making its first postseason appearance in eight years — fell 65-27 to District 26-5A champion Boerne Champion.