Girls Basketball Districts Preview

After losing their final regular season game to Kirkwood by a score of 44-55 on Thursday, Girls Basketball finished their season with a record of 17-7. On Saturday at 6:00 PM, they will continue their season with no more guarantees as they play Visitation in the first round of the Class 4 District 5 tournament.

In Thursday’s game against Kirkwood, the Wildcats had a strong first half; they led the Pioneers 21-20 at halftime. However, after getting outscored 22-5 in the third quarter, they couldn’t catch back up and lost by 11. However, Kirkwood has a record of 20-3 on the season, which is good enough for the number one seed in their Class 5 District. Other than the third quarter, the Wildcats played a solid game against one of the best teams in the area. For Westminster, this loss was not a bad one.

In their first matchup with Visitation earlier this year, the Wildcats defeated the Vivettes by a score of 53-33. In that game, Kristen Keys, Macey Lottmann, and Carlie Vick each scored in double digits. Already having one victory gives an advantage to Westminster going into Saturday.

Last year, the Wildcats defeated Visitation in the first round of Districts by a score of 62-44 before falling to Parkway North by five points to end their season. In the win, Kiley McKee led all scorers with 20 points. Hopefully, she will have a repeat performance and lead the Wildcats to victory in what could be her final competitive basketball game. Other than their one victory last year against Visitation, the Wildcats have not won a playoff game since 2015, when they defeated University City and, once again, Visitation, before losing in the District Championship game to MICDS.

Westminster can win their District this year. Far and away, the best team in the District is Parkway North, who the Wildcats lost to by just six points last month. Other than that, the only team in the District that Westminster has lost to is Ladue, their likely opponent for the second round if they were to win on Saturday. In the championship game of the MICDS Christmas Tournament this year, the Wildcats fell to the Rams by a score of 64-60 in a game where Kiley McKee went 11-11 from the free throw line on her way to scoring 24 points. Then, if the Wildcats were to win both of these games, they would be most likely to get a rematch with Parkway North in the District Championship game.

The 2018-2019 season has marked the turnaround of Girls Basketball at Westminster. Their combined win total in the three years prior to this season was 17 – the same amount as their win total this year alone. As Westminster’s experienced and talented Seniors came together with their younger counterparts, a wonderful combination resulted. Although Kiley McKee, Claire Sanden, and Kristen Keys were still the team leaders this year, Brooke Highmark and Carlie Vick still found ways to make themselves very valuable to the team. Hopefully the turnaround won’t just apply to the regular season; the Wildcats have their eyes on something much more important: a District Championship.