Westview's Jason Grady drives around Southridge's Julius Vesel during Friday's 70-51 Metro League win. (Photo by Jim Beseda)

BEAVERTON -- The Westview Wildcats got the job done at both ends of the floor and the effort showed where it matters most — on the scoreboard.

Westview’s Jason Grady scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the first half Friday, pacing the No. 5 Wildcats to a 70-51 Metro League boys basketball victory over the No. 3 Southridge Skyhawks at Westview High School.

The Wildcats (11-4, 3-0 Metro) closed the second quarter on a 15-1 run to take a 39-24 halftime lead and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way, snapping Southridge’s six-game winning streak.

“It was great game,” Grady said. “Our execution was phenomenal through the entire team. Game plan worked. Everyone played well.

“This sends a message to the rest of the league and to whoever we play that we’re here to play and we’re here to win.”

Westview coach Mike Wolf saw it pretty much the same way as the Wildcats avenged last month’s 62-57 loss to Southridge at the Les Schwab Invitational.

“We played well on both ends of the floor and it starts with defense for us,” Wolf said. “The familiarity with Southridge and understanding their tendencies and how they want to get to action helps.

“You’re not going to pitch a shutout, but I thought we made them take tough shots.”

Southridge’s Keenan Reckamp led all scorers with 19 points, but was the only player to finish in double figures for the Skyhawks (13-3, 2-1), who lost for the first time to an in-state opponent.

“I didn’t think we were ready to play,” Southridge coach Phil Vesel said. “We’re a young team as far as experience together. Going on the road in league play on a Friday night, it’s tough. You have to be connected.

“Credit to Coach Wolf and his team. They played really well and they wanted to come at us. But it was a combination of them playing great and then us thinking we were going to win because we’d beat ‘em once before.”

There were four lead changes and two ties before Westview’s Lucas D’Haem drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Wildcats a 17-12 lead 1:55 to play in the first quarter.

Reckamp kept Southridge close when he converted a transition lay-up off a Westview turnover that pulled the Skyhawks within a point, 24-23, with 4:05 remaining in the second quarter.

The last four minutes of the half belonged to Westview.

During the stretch, Westview had eight possessions and went 5 for 6 from the field with one 3-pointer and 4 for 5 at the free-throw line. The run started with a Dayton Jenkins 3-pointer, followed by a James Kefgen jumper in the lane, a Kai Russell three-point play, a D’Haem transition lay-up, a Jenkins one-handed dunk, a Peyton Read free throw and, finally, two Russell free throws.

Southridge countered with nine possessions, going 0 for 8 from the field, and 1 for 2 at the free-throw line with one offensive rebound and one turnover.

“That just shows what we’re capable of,” said Grady, the Wildcats’ 6-5 senior forward. “We all can make big-time plays and we had a stretch there that literally ran them out of the gym.”

It also helps to have a floor leader in Russell, the 5-8 senior point guard, who has taken his game to a higher level over the past few weeks.

“We’ve been talking with Kai about being more aggressive creating in transition,” Wolf said. “He really wants to execute and run half-court offense and he wants to do what a point guard is supposed to do. But sometimes you’ve just got to go, you know, and sort of get loose and get to the rim and be aggressive and attack.

“Tonight, he got himself to the basket and he created for some other guys, so that was a pretty complete game for us and I’m pretty excited because Southridge is a really, really good team.”

Another key was Westview’s physical play, which was a big factor during the 15-1 run to close the half.

“It got physical and our guys didn’t respond well,” Vesel said. “When you play tough opponents, it can be a physical game — lots of hand-checking and forearms — and that was stuff that the officials were just going to let go and play through.

“Our guys didn’t respond well to that and we kind of dropped our heads a little bit when we didn’t get some calls. Westview capitalized and we had some breakdowns. You work hard, you miss a shot, they get a lay-up in three seconds — that’s a recipe for getting beat.”

In the second half, Southridge resorted to a full-court press, which was effective at times but never did enough to get the Skyhawks back within striking distance.

“That’s the first time that we’ve really had to scramble and play that way,” Vesel said. “You play anxious when you do that. Elijah Thompson and Alonzo Hoff missed a couple easy ones because you feel like you have to score and it’s an unusual feeling because you’re not used to playing that way.”

Kefgen finished with 13 points and D’Haem had 11 points for the Wildcats.

“I think we’re a really good basketball team,” Wolf said. “I think we can play a lot of different styles, a lot of different ways, and execute a game plan based on what we think gives us the best chance to win. And their versatility and adaptations are what I’ve most proud of.”

Westview returns to action Tuesday at Jesuit.

“After watching all of us play enough, you can see the strength of the top three teams and the RPIs bear that out,” Wolf said. “But there are no nights off in this league. Everybody has good players, everybody is well-coached, and playing on the road is hard.”

Vesel agreed — there is a lot of basketball still to be played before the Metro League crowns a champion.

“It hurts to lose and it hurts to lose the way we did tonight,” said Vesel, whose team plays Tuesday at Sunset. “We’ll see if my guys learn from it, but no one is going to go undefeated in our league, I don’t think. 

“Maybe Westview can, but to me, they held serve. It’s your home court, you held serve, but they still have to come to our court. Right now, we’ve got to get back in the gym and get better at some things.”