Advosports

The Victoria West Warriors have been a second-half team over the past month and why would it be any different against their crosstown rival?

Drew Erskine scored 14 points and Jeremy Jimenez added eight of his own in the second half to lead Victoria West over Victoria East 43-41.

"This was a big win," Jimenez said.

The Warriors overcame a sluggish offensive start that saw them manage only seven first quarter points, but what was just as important were the defensive adjustments West coach Pat Erskine made.

The Warriors changed from a match-up zone to a man look after the first half and that helped slow the Titans.

"We played right into their hands, they wanted to slow the game up and control the tempo," said Victoria East coach John Grammer.

Fans were treated to an entertaining fourth quarter.

Although West came into the final frame with a six-point lead, they never relinquished it. Erskine hit two key free throws to give the Warriors a 42-38 lead with 28 seconds left.

Then everyone in the gym knew who the Titans were going to give the ball to.

"We knew Tyler (Friedel) was going to be the guy," Erskine said.

Added Jimenez: "We knew they were going to get it into Tyler's hands and he made a big shot at the end."

Friedel's second 3-pointer of the game cut the West lead to 42-41 with 13 seconds left.

After Jimenez hit one of two free throws, Dav'Vin Hill's last second jumper was off the mark and the Warriors escaped with the win.

Victoria East started the game with nine unanswered points in the first four minutes of the game.

Even though the Titans didn't let the hype of the first meeting with the Warriors effect them early, their coach saw a change in the team after the first half of the game.

"We just played tight," Grammer said. "It seems like we played not to lose instead of to win."

The Victoria West offense calmed down in the second quarter as they outscored East in the frame, but their inability to hit from the outside put them in a 23-19 hole at the break.

Even though the Warriors picked up a big win over a East, the biggest thing to come out of the game was a key win over a district opponent.

"It was big for us," Erskine said. "We realized if we went 1-2 we'd be coming out of a big hole."

The win propelled Victoria West to a 2-1 district mark and evens their overall record to 13-13.

The loss drops the Titans to 18-7 overall and 2-1 in district 30-4A.

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