B. West is B-A-C-K.
That was the unofficial rally cry heard throughout the greater metro area Monday night as the Westies returned to action after taking nearly a full year off from league play. The new-look squad opened the 2010 campaign on ESPN360 in the prime-time 8:30PM slot at the Tomahawk Ridge Community Center, 119th and Lowell, Overland Park, Kansas.
For their part, West didn't disappoint.
Returning guard Tyler Whetstine was hot early, scoring 14 first-half points to keep the Wyandotte County Tantangas' 2-3 defense honest. Matt Sargent looked to be in mid-season, Curtis Staples-esque form, going 9-20 from the field and an unblemished 2-2 from the charity stripe to pour in a game-high 26. Whetstine finished the game with 20.
The high-scoring output from the guard tandem was dictated mostly by the WyCoTan's size advantage. "We needed to stretch their zone," Whetstine said in the post game press conference. "Our bigs were getting abused, so we employed a 4-out, 1-in approach. Reddell really used his leverage to his advantage."
Nick the Quick dominated the paint on both ends of the floor in the 2nd half, scoring 8 in the latter frame. "Good to be back on the court," he noted.
Alex "A.C.," "Carter," Carr turned in arguably his best game as a Westie last night, hitting a myriad of circus shots, a banked 3-pointer, and a free throw. "Still need to work on my ball handling, though," Carr noted, pointing out his ill-advised no-look drop-pass to Joe Burke in the early stages of the 2nd half as an example. "I'll get there."
Speaking of the Grocer, "El Burke" typically dominated the window on the defensive end, when the Tantangas did miss shots. Burke looks to once again be among the league's elite when it comes to rebounds. "I want to show everyone I haven't missed a beat, as far as rebounding goes. Now, missing shots, that's another matter," Joe was quoted as saying, perhaps referring to his 1-9 shooting display in the season opener. "I'd like to say there's nowhere I could go but up; then I thought, well, I did make one. So, I think it can't get much worse than that. New building, new angles ... almost banked a 3 from the corner, though ... I'll play through it."
Coach Sargent credited his new dribble-drive hi-lo flex motion zone offense for the scoring outburst from the Westies on Opening Night. "A lot of ins, lot of outs, lot of what-have-yous," he said in the locker room after the game. "When you've got a guard-oriented team such as ours, it really puts the coach in a unique situation. We can exploit the other teams in unique ways. I think Nick Reddell causes a lot of matchup problems, honestly. Did you know he leads the league in steals in games 7:30PM or later since 2008? But, but ah ... I don't think you can crown us yet. We're here to prove all the preseason accolades are well-deserved. It's business time, as far as we're concerned."
Business time, indeed. Final score: Bremerton West 58, Tantangas 82. See you at the Tomahawk Ridge Community Center next week, tip-off is at 9:30PM sharp. Newcomer F Jason Briley, and letterwinners Brad Hill and Chris Roth are expected to make their season debuts. Go Westies!
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