The Woodlands Christian wins Class 4A crown
WEST — The Woodlands Christian Academy coach Tanner Field stood near midcourt and draped blue lanyards displaying gold medals around the necks of his players and coaches. He finished every interaction with a strong embrace.
His team had been the top-ranked team in the state all season. The Warriors made that official on Saturday at West High School with a resounding performance. After suffering an agonizing overtime loss in the state championship game last season, the Warriors found redemption with a 68-50 victory over Colleyville Covenant in the
TAPPS Class 4A title game.
“Last year hurt — it hurt bad,” Field said. “It really stinks that somebody has to go home losing, but we’re definitely glad to be in this position. It was a goal for us. We knew we had the talent, and we knew we had the coaching staff to get it done.
“It’s just an amazing feeling. It’s almost a relief because we were the No. 1 team all year, and we were kind of expected to be here.”
The triumph marked the second state championship in three years for TWCA. The Warriors have made four consecutive state tournament appearances since Field took the reins and have played in the championship bout three straight years.
The victory also marked the sixth state championship for the program over the past 12 seasons. The Warriors also won titles in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012.
Senior guard Bakari LaStrap finished with a game-high 21 points to lead the Warriors (27-6). Junior guard Austin Benigni poured in 20 points, and senior forward Tucker Nooe added 10.
LaStrap, Benigni, Nooe and senior Luke Mansfield were selected to the alltournament team, and LaStrap received his medal amidst “MVP” chants from the crowd.
“Over the course of the year, we planned on being here,” said LaStrap, who is a nominee for the Guys V. Lewis award, handed out to the top player in Greater Houston every season. “There’s a lot of emotion, and we have seven seniors with a lot of maturity. It’s just love. I just really can’t explain it.”
TWCA wasted no time establishing a commanding early lead. The Warriors scored the first nine points of the game and led by as many as 14 in the opening quarter. TWCA was stout defensively, holding the Cougars (27-9) without a made shot until the 3:06 mark.
“I think it was the unselfishness we came out with,” said Mansfield, who has been with the program all four years. “The ball was moving, we were hitting shots, and everyone was gelling together.”
Covenant cut the lead down to nine points with 5:50 on the clock in the second quarter, but that was as close as the Cougars would get. LaStrap nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Warriors the 29-14 lead with 4:01 remaining. TWCA maintained a comfortable margin through the rest of the period and walked into the locker room with a 34-20 advantage.
LEGACY CHRISTIAN 62 WESTBURY CHRISTIAN 59
An untimely cold stretch and late foul trouble cost the Westbury Christian Wildcats a shot at the TAPPS 5A state title at West High School.
The Wildcats pulled ahead of defending champion Frisco Legacy Christian by four points with just over five minutes remaining on a dunk by junior forward Ja’vier Francis. They would make just one more field goal the rest of the night, however, as Legacy closed the game on a 14-7 run to and deny Westbury its 22nd TAPPS state championship.
Junior guard Chris Felix kept the Wildcats in the game with a 20-point performance, while his sophomore backcourt mate Joseph Cormier finished with nine points and five assists. Westbury also received significant production from Francis — who recorded nine points, nine rebounds and six blocks — in the post, but the junior big man ran into foul trouble and was unable to help his team in the waning moments.
Francis fouled out with 3:08 remaining and his team down by two, with his absence becoming most apparent during the final 30 seconds.
Legacy senior Aren Terrien missed back-toback free throws twice during this stretch, but without their 6-foot-8 anchor in the post, the Wildcats failed to corral the rebound on both occasions.
Adding to Westbury’s woes was an inability to stop a barrage of 3-pointers from Legacy senior Jonathan Alexandre, who knocked down six triples on his way to a game-high 25 points.
Westbury finishes the season at 29-7 and did so through a challenging schedule that included wins over UIL playoff teams Crosby, Bellaire and Sharpstown and Southwest Preparatory Conference finalist Houston Christian.