Members of the Westgate basketball team gather around head coach Oliver Winston during a time out in the Tigers’ game against Cecilia Friday at the St. Martinville Senior High Holiday Shootout.

After streaking to a 5-0 start, head coach Oliver Winston’s Westgate Tigers dropped their next six games heading into a clash Saturday evening with Breaux Bridge in the consolation bracket of the St. Martinville Holiday Shootout.

“The effort is good,” Winston said after a 74-64 loss to Cecilia on Friday.  “When you get in a slump like this, it’s like you’re in quicksand.  The kids want to win and their effort is there to win, but we’re young and we’re inconsistent on offense.

“We’ll get in lulls offensively where we don’t score for two to two and a half minutes.  That puts so much pressure on your defense because you need stops.  It’s just a matter of us getting more consistent and getting some of our younger kids confident that they can play and score.”

Star senior guard Keydrain Calligan, an honorable mention all-state selection last season, came off the bench vs. Cecilia.

“We wanted to shake some things up and look at some different things,” Winston said.  “We wanted to see how he would do coming off the bench, and he was willing to take that challenge.  And we’ll continue to do some things to try and find the right combination for us.”

Calligan scored nine points vs. Cecilia (12-5).  Senior guard Devondra Butler had 13 points for WHS, followed by sophomore forward Danny Lewis with 10. 

“We have to build a base around Keydrain,” Winston said.  “That’s what we’re trying to look at and figure out.  He’s a leader for us.  Danny Lewis is a captain for us as well.”

Cecilia built a 30-18 lead in the second quarter but Westgate battled back to close within 61-60 on a 3-pointer by senior guard Derryon Sam early in the fourth.

“Derryon Sam is a great shooter and then I have a bunch of young kids,” Winston said.  “We have some young kids who I think are going to be really good.  They just have to learn under fire because we play good teams.

“We haven’t played anybody that’s bad.  When you have a young, inexperienced team, you have to learn on the run.  That’s what we’re having to do.”

Winston wants his team to be prepared when league play rolls around.  

District 5-4A is stacked with St. Thomas More (defending Division II champion), Carencro (4A semifinalist), Northside (9-6) and WHS, which lost to eventual champ Breaux Bridge in the quarterfinals last season.

“Like I told the kids, each season is broken down into three sections,” the WHS coach said.  “Right now, we’re trying to get some experience and get through this first section.  Once you get to district, it’s going to be a war every night.  We’re in that learning process.  

“I thought today we got a little bit better by doing some things we’ve worked on in practice.  

“Once we get some confidence, I think we’re going to be okay.  It’s just inconsistency right now. 

“One night, we’ll have two or three guys doing a good job scoring.  Then, on another night it’ll be two different guys doing a good job.   We haven’t had a combination where we’ve had three or four guys all scoring at a certain type of pace.”