As the temperature refuses to rise, and the spring sports season rapidly approaches, both the girls and boys basketball teams are battling to remain in the hunt for a state championship. With both teams having a younger roster, and facing strong schedules going forward, let’s look at the postseason outlook for both the Westfield boys and girls basketball teams going into the playoffs.

We’ll start with the Girls Basketball team, which currently posts a 5-16 record, and an 0-8 district record. As seen with their record, the team has clearly struggled this season, and their most recent results consist of a 40-47 loss against Lake Braddock and a 26-57 loss at Chantilly before narrowly defeating South Lakes at home. A major reason for this is due to the fact that the majority of the team is still young, as there are only two seniors on their roster this year (Alexandra Florian and Isabella Lalli.) Seven of the players are juniors and they have one sophomore and one freshman on the team. Because of this, it is likely that the Bulldogs will be much improved in the 2025-2026 season, as nine of their 11 players will return to the court next year. 

Coaching the girls basketball team this year is Health & PE teacher Alice Andersen.  During the offseason, she replaced veteran coach Noel Klippenstein (Coach Klip) who moved away. Andersen coached the Girls Basketball team at Westfield in the 2000s, and had multiple very strong teams during that era, including a district championship in 2004, despite never winning a state championship. Andersen’s daughter Ava plays for the varsity team as a sophomore.

I got to watch the team play against South Lakes on Saturday, February 15th. Coincidentally, this turned out to be their most winnable district game, as they hosted the 5-18 (1-9) South Lakes Seahawks.  The Bulldogs got off to a slow start early, trailing 6-7 at the end of the first quarter, but quickly retook the lead early in the second quarter, going up 11-9 on a driving layup from sophomore Ava Andersen, and extending it to 13-9 after a mid range shot from fellow junior Zoe Boggs. Both teams traded baskets, before Westfield was eventually able to build a five point lead going into halftime. 

The Bulldogs started the second half off strong, as back to back two point shots from senior Florian gave Westfield a nine point lead at 23-14. Despite the Seahawks finding more success offensively in the third quarter, Westfield was able to maintain a comfortable lead. Alexa Caiazza finished a layup and freshman Abigail Isabel Santos nailed a corner three pointer to give  Westfield a 31-21 lead at the end of the third quarter. However, South Lakes began to crawl back into the game in the fourth quarter, fueled by points in the paint and a very rowdy visiting fan section. With 5:45 remaining in the 4th, the Seahawks hit a jumper to cut the lead to 31-27, forcing a Westfield timeout. Despite the momentum from South Lakes, the Bulldogs maintained a lead throughout the fourth quarter, and after a free throw from Boggs to put the home team up by three, South Lakes missed two game-tying three point shots, and Westfield was able to hold on to their first district win, the final score 38-35.

Following the win against South Lakes, the Bulldogs season came to an end on Tuesday when they got decimated by Oakton, losing 30-60. With most of their roster returning next season, it will be intriguing to see the progress made by the Westfield girls basketball program next year. 

Meanwhile on the boys side, the Bulldogs are having their best season they’ve had in multiple years, clinching a winning record for the first time since the 2017-2018 season, when no current student at Westfield was even in middle school. They’ve been close to a .500 mark the last few years, finishing 12-13 last season, and 11-12 three years ago. This season however, Westfield has proven to be one of the best public school teams in Northern Virginia, led by an extremely talented junior class, as they start a lineup of five juniors, four of whom were all-district first team this season.

For the third consecutive season, the boys basketball team is coached by Kevin Harris. After coaching across route 29 at Centreville High School for six seasons, Harris took over as the varsity coach at Westfield in 2022, following the retirement of long-time head coach Doug Ewell. Despite coaching solid teams in his first two seasons that both reached the regional playoffs, it is undeniable that this is the best team he’s had since taking over the program for the black and gold.

At the time of publication, Westfield sits at 17-6, and 9-1 in district play, coming off of two wins against Chantilly (71-47 and 72-46) and a big win against South Lakes. Because of their 9-1 district record that placed Westfield second in the district standings, the Bulldogs have already clinched a spot in the regional playoffs. Their opponents in the regional playoffs, however, will depend on the results of the district tournaments in region 6D (Concorde and Liberty.) As for the district schedule for Westfield, they will host the winner of Centreville vs Madison in the district semi finals on Wednesday (2/19.) If they win that game, then it’s likely they will have to travel to South Lakes for a chance at a district championship. 

At the time of publication, the dates for the regional tournament have not been announced yet. However, it can be predicted through the current region standings that Westfield will host either Wakefield or Herndon in the first round of the region tournament, with Westfield defeating both teams in December (81-47 vs Herndon, 64-42 vs Wakefield.) That being said, a district championship win for the Bulldogs would provide the easiest possible path for them. If Westfield were to win the district championship, they would be matched against McLean or Langley in the region opener, both of whom have losing records. From there, they would have to win a home game against Marshall (16-7) in order to qualify for the state tournament. This is a significantly easier path than having to go through Yorktown (19-3) as Westfield lost a very close game to the Patriots back in December (61-64.) Therefore, the Bulldogs are undoubtedly good enough to make states this year, and a district championship provides the easiest path. 

In a possible preview of the district championship game, the Bulldogs hosted the South Lakes Seahawks on Saturday, February 19th following the conclusion of the girls game. With myself having played for the JV team this season, I have watched most of the varsity games in person this season, as they play directly after us. And having seen them play all season, I think it’s safe to say that the Bulldogs performance on Saturday might’ve been the best game they have played all year.

Westfield got off to a very strong start, both offensively and defensively. Junior guard Jemon Price got the offense started for Westfield, burying back to back three pointers to start the game, and then hit another one a few minutes later, putting the Bulldogs up 11-2. In the concluding minute of the first quarter, freshman guard Malachi Lee found guard Isaiah Brown Jr. open in the corner, and he drilled a three pointer to give Westfield an 18-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

For the duration of the second quarter, the Bulldogs held a stable double digit lead, with them leading by as much as 16 points. Throughout the first half, they were able to contain South Lakes forward Jordan Scott, who committed to play at Michigan State before the season. On the offensive end, Westfield continued to rely on sharpshooters Price and Brown Jr., both of whom were selected to the all-district first team. At halftime, the score read Westfield 32, South Lakes 20. 

To start the third quarter, the trailing Seahawks began to crawl their way back into the game, as a 7-0 run to trim the lead to 32-27, that was halted by a baseline floater from junior Colin Stemberger. As both teams’ offenses picked up in the second half, Westfield remained in possession of a 5-8 point lead for most of the quarter, with most of the Seahawks points coming from the mid range, and Price scoring 10 in the quarter for Westfield. To cap off the third quarter, guard Tyler Dahm was able to finish an and-1 layup, and despite missing the foul shot, Westfield led 49-38 after 3 quarters of action.

With the Bulldogs now up 11 points, South Lakes was never able to truly challenge Westfield’s lead in the fourth quarter. Despite finally connecting on a multiple catch and shoot three pointers, the home team was able to hold them off, powered by a putback layup from Brown Jr., and another and-1 layup from Stemberger. Consequently, Westfield’s lead held firm and they were able to secure a 67-60 win, capped off by free throws from freshman Carter Brooks and all-district forward Will Robinson.

This was indisputably the biggest win for the Westfield boys team, as South Lakes is the defending state champion and has been ranked in the Washington Post top 25 rankings all season. It was without mention above that Westfield pulled off this victory without all-district forward Mathias Lee, who is considered by some to be the most talented player on the team. The Bulldogs and Seahawks meet again tonight (Friday, 2/21) at 8:00 in the concord district championship game. This is after both teams won their district semifinal game on Wednesday, South Lakes beating Oakton 72-45, and the Bulldogs triumphing over Madison 51-39. In a very deep classification without a clear-cut favorite this season, the state playoffs are going to be an exhilarating time for Northern Virginia basketball fans.