Taylorsville • Westlake junior Samantha Hester was in uncharted territory Tuesday.
Hester and her fellow teammates had to make it up on the fly. And it was a wholly successful venture as the Thunder won the first playoff game in school history, outlasting Herriman 50-47 in the Class 6A girls’ basketball state tournament opening round.
“It feels a lot more energized, I like being here,” said Hester, who finished with 19 points. “I don’t know how to put this into words, but it’s just exciting to work our way up here.”
Hester was a ninth-grader on a Thunder squad that finished with a 2-20 record just two seasons ago. The team worked its mark up to 9-12 last season.
Westlake came in against Herriman as the No. 2 seed out of Region 4.
The Thunder fell behind early and only took their first lead late in the third quarter when Rian Fullmer made a three-point play.
Herriman (16-6) took a 46-42 advantage on a 3-pointer from Jalyn Van Dyke, who had 15 points to share team honors with Milee Enger, with 3:30 remaining in the game.
But free throws by Westlake’s Marissa Scoresby and Fullmer evened the score at 46-46 and set up a chance for the Thunder with less than 30 seconds left.
On an inbounds pass from midcourt, the Thunder’s Ashley Parry raced into the lane and found Hester, who hit a short jumper with 11 seconds left.
Enger had a chance to tie the game at the charity stripe, but the Herriman guard made the first free throw then missed the second. So the Mustangs, trailing by one, fouled Hester and sent her to the free-throw line.
Hester sank both tries with 7 seconds left, and Herriman missed a 3-pointer to tie just before the clock ran out.
“It was a little nerve-wracking,” Hester said.
“It’s funny because we tried to use the ‘Everyone’s against us, no one’s picking you, there’s no pressure,’” Westlake coach Michael O’Connor said. “Just everything to kind of be relaxed.
“Our kids never quit. They never quit all year. We made big shots when we had to. Trailing all day long and we’re just hanging in there. When the horn sounds, we get to play another game.”
WESTLAKE 50, HERRIMAN 47 <br>• Samantha Hester scores 19 points, including the last four of the game, to help Westlake post the program’s first playoff win. <br>• Tatum Peterson adds 11 points for Westlake, which also gets 10 points from Rian Fullmer. <br>• Herriman gets 15 points apiece from Milee Enger and Jalyn VanDyke.