TOWN AND COUNTRY • The Westminster boys basketball team loves to let it fly from 3-point land. On their home floor Friday, six Wildcats combined to sink nine 3-pointers as Westminster cruised to a 61-48 victory against John Burroughs.
Westminster, No. 5 in the STLhighschoolsports.com small-school rankings, improved to 20-4.
"Our guys like to think of themselves as 3-point shooters," Westminster coach David Klyn said. "It was a good night. They were packing us in and giving us the outside shot, and we told them to shoot with confidence."
Connor Fleming scored a team-high 16 points. Jack Dohr chipped in 13 points, and John Eric Steiner had 12.
"We knew this was a big game," Fleming said. "We wanted to show what good of team that we have."
The Bombers never gave themselves much of a chance. Struggling on the glass and offense, Burroughs dropped to 15-4.
"We got beat every way you can get beat," John Burroughs coach Steve Wilcutt said. "They pounded us on the boards and shot the ball in. They're big inside. There's a lot of mismatches."
Fleming knocked down a 3-pointer to start the first quarter and added another to close it as the Wildcats pulled to a 17-10 lead after one period.
In the second quarter, Steiner knocked down a 3-pointer and was on the receiving end of a nice pass from Collin Einerston that produced a bucket and a 24-16 lead with 3 minutes 18 left in the half. Dohr added a pair of buckets -- one a trey -- to make it 29-19 at half.
Burroughs closed in in the third quarter, but Westminster ended the period with a scoring barrage that included Chad Younger and Steiner burying back-to-back 3-pointers to go up 47-34.
"They were playing disciplined defense and following the game plan to a 'T,'" Klyn said. "That's what got us to where we were. We're excited about how this season has gone. We know districts is going to be very tough."
In the fourth quarter, Cole Norman connected on a pair of 3-pointers to push Westminster's lead to 57-42.
Elliott and Amos Shinkle led Burroughs with 12 points apiece, and Jimmy Carney added 10.
Burroughs will face Priory on Tuesday. Westminster closes out its regular season on Wednesday when it hosts Seckman.
