ROCHESTER — It was all Bearcats in Rochester on Tuesday, as the W.F. West boys basketball team earned its first win of the season in a dominant 80-39 win against the Warriors.
The Bearcats’ advantage in the post was evident early and often, as Parker Eiswold and Grady Westlund went to work on both ends of the floor.
W.F. West (1-1, 1-0 2A EvCo) scored with ease in the paint throughout the entire game, while the Warriors couldn’t find any sort of rhythm, whether it was in the paint or on the perimeter.
Eiswald and Westlund scored 10 of the Bearcats’ 23 points in the quarter, outscoring the entire Rochester team, which only scored eight.
On the day, they both finished with double-doubles, as Eiswald scored 24 points, Westlund scored 12, and they both hauled in 12 rebounds.
“I thought they did a pretty good job being disciplined down in the post, and they shared it out of the post pretty well,” W.F. West coach Chris White said. “They kept their moves simple and decisive, which is what we hoped for.”
“I’m really excited for Grady,” White continued.”I feel like the game is slowing down a little bit for Grady, so he’s able to see it and make better decisions.”
While Eiswald and Westlund set the tone offensively, they weren’t the only ones who found success. Weston Potter added 12 points, including a pair of threes, and Gage Brumfield tallied 10 points. As a team, the Bearcats sank eight 3-pointers.
In the second half, White noted that they started to call out their own reads on the floor, which is something that he has been hoping to see as the season progresses.
For the Warriors (0-4), it was a game to forget.
“A lack of execution. Lack of hustle. Lack of will. Lack of heart. Lack of energy,” Rochester coach Gino McDuffy said. “This game right here, I’m gonna take full responsibility. It falls on me. I don’t think I got them ready for this game.”
Despite the lopsided result on Tuesday, McDuffy believes his team is better than what they put on the floor, noting that as recently as Saturday at Olympic, he felt they came out with a different intensity level.
“We lost on Saturday too,” McDuffy said. “But the energy they brought on Saturday was not the game energy that we brought tonight … It’s back to the drawing board.”
There was a bright spot for the Warriors, however, as Colton Weiss led the team with eight points.
After a poor performance in the second half of Rochester’s first game of the season, Weiss has steadily improved, and McDuffy thinks that with time, he could become an “X-Factor” alongside Carson Rotter and Brayden O’Connor.
“With Colton, it’s all about confidence,” McDuffy said. “Once that comes, he’s gonna be a guy to consistently watch out for in this league.”
Another tough test awaits the Warriors later this week, as they’ll host Tumwater. The T-Birds swept the Warriors last season, including a 65-point win in Rochester.
The Bearcats will also be at home on Thursday, as they’ll host Shelton in their home-opener.
