CEDAR HILL — The young guard tandem of sophomore Casen Lawrence and freshman Jakobi Williams combined for 33 points Tuesday to spark the Westminster boys basketball team to a 72-50 victory against St. Mary's in a Class 4 sectional at Northwest High.

Lawrence led the way with 19 points and Williams added 14 for Westminster (24-4), in its first sectional since 2015.

Two other Wildcats scored 11 points each — senior Brennan Orf and senior Matthew George — and sophomore Samuel Vestal contributed 10 points.

"I thought we competed really hard," Westminster coach Dale Ribble said. "We were fortunate to come out with a win. We were pretty well-balanced, but I think we've played better this year. I have to credit St. Mary's because they made it hard on us. They pressured us.

"I hope we can take care of the basketball better in the next game. We're glad we get to continue playing."

The Wildcats advanced to play Cape Notre Dame, a 59-36 sectional winner Tuesday against Park Hills Central, in a Class 4 quarterfinal at 2:45 p.m. Saturday at Jefferson College. 

The Bulldogs beat the Wildcats in a Class 4 quarterfinal in 2015.

St. Mary's (11-17) was the Class 4 state runner-up last season.

"That team is pretty good," St. Mary's coach Bryan Turner said about Westminster. "Credit Coach Ribble. They have shooters. They have bigs. They have it all. We came with a game plan, but we didn't execute it to the fullest. I think we missed 10 shots in the first half and if you're not knocking down shots, you'll get in trouble. Hats off to Westminster."

Westminster led 27-17 at halftime.

"I didn't think we played that well in the first half," Ribble said. "We turned the ball over and you have to credit St. Mary's with that. They were running their press and trapping out of their half-court stuff and that bothered us some."

The Wildcats committed 12 turnovers in the first half. That helped keep the Dragons in the game.

"It was definitely a rough first half," Lawrence said. "We cleaned that up and did a better job in the second half. Coach told us we weren't playing like we were capable of playing. We all knew that. We came and played better offensively."

Indeed.

The Wildcats scored the first eight points of the third quarter. Lawrence's 3-pointer, one of five he made, capped the run, giving Westminster a 35-17 advantage.

St. Mary's came back behind the play of two seniors. Sofara Rasas led all scorers with 25 points and nine rebounds. Noah Hamilton added 11 points.

"He's been our bellcow all year," Turner said about Rasas. "But we need to have multiple guys in double digits to get wins like we did during the season. Those guys just kind of ran out of gas. You need role players to step up and have some big moments."

The Dragons trailed 45-38 heading into the final period.

But Westminster was not to be denied. The Wildcats employed a zone defense and the Dragons had trouble with it.

"We worked on zones all year," Turner said. "In the heat of the moment, we try to control the tempo. We tried to push the ball up the court before they could set up in it but we didn't have a lot of success doing that. It just kind of squeezed the life out of us."

Lawrence began the final quarter off to a good start for the Wildcats by draining a long 3. He said that's what he does best.

"I like to shoot," Lawrence said. "It's fun to shoot. I do what I can to help the team."

Williams, his young backcourt teammate, hit several big free throws in the fourth quarter when St. Mary's began to foul.

"Jakobi has been a great player this season for us," Lawrence said. "He's a great defender and he can shoot free throws."

Ribble is excited about having those two youngsters around in the future.

"I think he's (Lawrence) going to be a really good player," Ribble said. "Jakobi played really well. He continues to get better. He's going to be a good player, too. There's hope for the future."

The Wildcats used a 9-0 run to stretch their lead to 64-46 with 3:14 to play.

Shortly after that, Ribble began clearing his bench.

"This was a great win," Orf said. "They played fast paced and got a lot of turnovers but we had to take care of ball more and be more efficient with our scoring chances and we did that. We got everyone involved."

This was St. Mary's fourth consecutive sectional appearance.

"I'm proud of the seniors and for the way they played and their careers here," Turner said. "We won four district championships with them.

By Warren Mayes of the Post Dispatch