Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

Friday @Frankfort The Western Boone Stars Boys basketball team was able to get a 56-48 win over Frankfort on Friday night. The Stars were led by Beau Sawyer with 14 points. Tristyn Faulk added 10 points, and Owen Oakley led the way off the bench with 9 points all coming in the first half. In his first game back from injury this season, Carson Nicely anchored the Stars defense and ended the game with 5 steals. The defense was evident when the Stars held Frankfort to only 9 points in the 4th quarter in route to the Stars win. Saturday vs. Lebanon A 3-pointer by Luke LaGrange gave Western Boone an 8-7 lead with just under three minutes left in the first quarter, but Western Boone couldn't overcome a first half 25-3 run resulting in 76-60 loss. The Stars were happy with the first few minutes and how they went, but didn’t do what they needed to in order to keep it going. “I thought we came out with some really good energy, and it was really disappointing to see that toughness kind of drop off,” Western Boone head coach Jason Smith said. “I felt like we had a start where we should have been like ‘we are just as good as them,’ but it went it the other direction.” Smith said the Tigers’ physicality and pressure in the second quarter really caused his team problems, pushing them off their spots and forcing them to start their offense further away from the hoop that they wanted. They were able to adjust a little bit in the second half. The Stars trailed by 17 at the half, and got as close as 13 in the third quarter, but every time WeBo looked ready to make a run, the Tigers had the answer. “I was telling them in the locker room, at a certain point, moral victories aren’t going to cut it,” Smith said. “If we’re trying to change this culture, we got to get victories and not moral victories.” Quinn Westerfeld led the Stars with 16 points, and Burke Cavins had 13. Jaden Latham added 10. The Stars travel to Faith Christian on Tuesday. As the Stars hit the final six weeks of the regular season, Smith said games like Saturday will help his team get ready for the post-season. “I want to play a ton of games like this, where the other team might be a little bit stronger than us or bigger than us,” Smith said. “It only helps us get stronger with the ball, handle the pressure, get back doors, things like that. So when we play a team in the sectional like that, we are prepared for it.” Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.