The last time the Westgate Tigers claimed victory over crosstown rival New Iberia Senior High School, senior Amari Simon was still in middle school. 

This time around, Simon and fellow senior Peyton Knatt led a team made up of mostly freshmen to the promised land. 

“The streak wasn’t really something that we had discussed,” said Westgate head coach Oliver Winston. “I guess we hadn’t won in a couple of years, but we never had a conversation about it.”

Westgate took an early lead, outscoring NISH 17-6 in the first quarter behind points from Simon, Jackilon Robertson, Cayden Lancelin, Antonio Quetel and Shadon Lee. Westgate stretched the lead to 32-13 going into halftime, displaying an ability to control the tempo of the game well, something the Tigers have struggled with earlier in the season. 

“We want to get out and run and transition, 100%, but if we don’t have it and we have to back up, we need to slow down and execute an offense,” explained Winston. “I didn’t feel like we did that in the last game, we kind of got thrown off because they got in the zone and we were kind of like ‘what the heck are we doing?’ We really worked hard on running when we had opportunities and when we didn’t, set up and run a good offense.”

With a sizable lead and NISH star Otis Anderson sitting on three fouls, the Tigers changed gears. Instead of sticking with the traditional run-it-down-your-throat style that Westgate is known for, the team began to feed the ball to shooters on the perimeter. Simon, always with an eye for a deep shot, scored 17 points in the third quarter to secure the win.

“I told the team all week that we weren’t going to make it a one-person game,” said Simon. “We wanted to move the ball and take good shots all night. My team knows me as a shooter, so they trusted me to do that. I didn’t let them down.”

Simon led the scoring with 28 points. Antonio Quetel scored 8 points, with Jackilon Robertson (7 points), Cayden Lancelin (4 points), Amirik Miller (4 points) and Shadon Lee (5 points) also contributing to the win. 

NISH juniors Kaiden Johnson (10 points), Myles Jones (8 points) and Shane Westley (8 points) led the team’s offense.

The victory moved Westgate to 7-7 on the season and up to the No. 14 spot in the Non-Select Division I power ratings. While the team’s record isn’t an accurate reflection of the talent on the roster, Winston said the team is beginning to show the consistency that will make them a tough team to beat down the stretch. 

“This is a young crew, so they’re just trying to find their own way of being consistent. It was a great win, but we have to have that consistency every game,” he said. “That’s the good and the bad of a young team and that’s why we’re a .500 team instead of being better. We have to play like this on a consistent basis. We have the ability, it’s just a matter of them understanding what it takes to play at that level and with that intensity every night. We did a good job of executing tonight and we didn’t turn the ball over as much as we have in the last few games. Defensively we rotated extremely well.”

Simon agreed, adding that he and fellow senior Peyton Knatt are thankful to have such a talented group of players to work with.

“Peyton and I have been here since our freshman year, through the ups and downs, and we knew that once we got some help, everything would be fine,” Simon said. “We put our trust in the young guys, but we never treated them like they were young. We have to rely on them. I really believe in this team right now. I have all my faith in these young kids.”

Westgate’s scheduled game against Idea Bridge on Tuesday has been canceled due to weather. The Tigers’ matchup against Morgan City, scheduled for Friday, might also be canceled. To stay up-to-date on game times, follow Westgate Athletics on Facebook.