How chemistry — and future Longhorn Bo Ogden — brought Westlake to the state title game
· Yahoo Sports
The biggest question surrounding Westlake boys basketball coming into the season was how the team would fit together.
With two high-profile transfers in Bo Ogden and Mack Martin joining a roster with several established players — most notably guards Blake Cannatti, Powell Frickenschmidt and Alex Allen — talent was never an issue. But roles could have been.
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Ogden, who signed with Texas before the season and spent the last three years at St. Michael’s, would obviously become the No. 1 scoring option, or at least spend a lot of time with the ball in his hands. (And despite being the tallest player on the team, he’s still a perimeter guard, at least offensively.)
Martin, who excelled at Johnson for two seasons, would also be an instant offensive threat.
But due to what longtime Chaps coach Robert Lucero credits as a team that “only cares about winning,” Westlake finds itself in the Class 6A Division II state championship game Saturday when it faces Little Elm at the Alamodome.
“Everyone has the same goal of winning the state championship,” Cannatti, a senior who is in his third year of being a key player for the Chaps, said Wednesday during the team’s news conference. “Everyone wants to succeed this season. So there’s not going to be much ego when you’re all fighting for the same goal.”
Though a sparkling record of 32-6, including only one loss since the calendar flipped to 2026, indicates it was mostly smooth sailing this winter for Westlake, Ogden noted it’s been a continual process to jell.
“You’ve got to figure out that chemistry,” said Ogden, who has been just as important rebounding for the Chaps in the playoffs as he has scoring. “We struggled a few times the first couple of months, but now we’re really (clicking) offensively and defensively. We’ve been able to get guys open shots and get good looks every time down the floor. … I think we’ve done a good job of making that team bond.”
Each player embracing any position or task on the floor has helped.
Allen plays more in the post after being a ball-handling guard last year, while he, Frickenschmidt, Cannatti and sixth-man Hayes Goldman are counted on for things that won’t show up in the stat sheet, like playing tough defense and diving for loose balls.
“Things like that show the character of our guys,” said Lucero, who is in his 12th year leading the Chaps and also guided them to a state finals appearance in 2021. “Everybody sacrifices when you make a run like this. … Guys have probably sacrificed shots, and other guys have probably sacrificed playing time. But they never come to practice down and nobody has a bad day.”
Martin credited Frickenschmidt, the team’s main point guard, for putting everyone on the same page.
“He made the pieces click,” said Martin, who hit six 3-pointers and scored a game-high 23 points Tuesday in the semifinal win over Cypress Falls. “He organized the offense, and as a team we spent hours in the gym together. It came together over time.”
Ogden, Martin, Frickenschmidt and Cannatti all said some of the team’s chemistry comes from the Chaps being friends off the floor. Ogden noted the team usually eats lunch together, while others said there’s always a loose vibe away from basketball.
“We’re a real team,” Frickenschmidt said. “No one on our team has any beef off the court or on the court. Everyone wants to see other people succeed for each other.”
As the Chaps go for the first state championship in program history, it’s the culmination of a season where Westlake has figured almost everything out and is peaking at the right time.
“It’s a family,” Martin said. “I wouldn’t want to do this with anybody else.”