WESTMORELAND – The Westmoreland High School boys basketball team wanted a shot to play for the district title.

The Eagles will get the opportunity on Monday evening … if the weather allows.

Westmoreland remained in position to win the regular-season championship thanks to Friday evening’s 52-45 victory over visiting White House.

“We’ve been looking forward to this from the beginning of the season,” Eagle senior guard Caleb Graves said. “We’ve been told that teams call us smoke and mirrors. Teams don’t think we’re very good, and then, they play us and realize we’re a pretty good team. Together, we are good. We’ve been playing together so long.

“To go play for a district championship is great. We’re excited. It’s been a while since Westmoreland has had a guy’s team to play for the district title. We want this so bad. We’re ready for it.”

Westmoreland High junior forward Colton Pippin maneuvers in the post area as White House junior Zach Baldwin defends. Pippin scored eight points in the Eagles’ 52-45 victory on Friday evening.

Westmoreland (17-10 overall, 9-2 in District 9-AA) remained one game back of district-leading Cheatham County with Friday’s victory, but the Eagles are responsible for Cheatham County’s lone district loss. Therefore, an Eagle win on Monday would even the two teams’ district record and give Westmoreland the 9-AA title based on the outcome of the head-to-head match-ups.

The only variable that may impact that is inclement weather that has been forecasted for Sunday and Monday.

“You have to be proud of them,” Eagle head coach Jason Graves said. “I think this little team was picked in the bottom two or three of the district, expected to finish in sixth or seventh place. They’re not always pretty, but to do what they’ve done and play with the heart they play with is a credit to them.

“One through seven is close in this district. I’m proud of them and how they’ve come together as a team, accepting their roles and supporting each other. They put winning first. That will carry you a long way sometimes.”

The third-place Blue Devils (13-12, 7-5) won the two teams’ first meeting, a 70-66 contest on Jan. 19.

“They are very well-coached,” White House head coach Gary Smith said. “They’ve been up there (in the district standings) and are the only team that’s beaten Cheatham County. They have good players. They have chemistry and all know their roles. They’re hard to play against. That’s a credit to Coach Graves and to his kids.

“Once they get the lead, they’re hard to catch … and they can hit free throws.”

White House High freshman guard Cole Pond dribbles to the basket as Westmoreland senior Landon Dunigan defends.

Westmoreland drew three offensive fouls in the first quarter, with Caleb Graves and classmate Landon Dunigan taking charges against Blue Devil leading scorer Malik Morgan. Morgan sat for most of the first half with the two fouls.

“White House is a hard guard,” Jason Graves said. “They have so many kids who can shoot. They’re good off the dribble. To hold them to 45 points is good. Some of that is both teams playing back-to-back games (on Thursday and Friday). It was two tired teams playing.

“We’ve worked on positioning since the last time we played them. The first little bit was a tone-setter for a while.”

Caleb Graves added, “That’s what coach has told us since day one. If someone is driving to the basket, take the charge. We all do a good job of taking charges when it’s there. Some got called. Some didn’t. We just kept playing and did what we had to do to get the win.”

The Eagles led by 11 points after sophomore guard Dillon Duffer converted on a layin late in the first half.

However, White House junior guard Bradley Cole sank a 3-pointer less than a minute later to create a 21-15 score at halftime.

“We both had hard games last night,” Smith said. “That’s no excuse, but we were flat early.”

The Blue Devils were coming off a game in which they scored 78 points in a one-point loss to visiting White House Heritage on Thursday.

“We’ve talked about it all day today and yesterday,” Caleb Graves said. “That was our goal. We knew if we got up on them that they’d get up in our face and pressure us. We had to slow it down.

“It came down to foul shots. We hit our’s. I thought we did a decent job of handling their pressure … hey, we got the win.”

A technical foul assessed to the Blue Devils early in the fourth quarter aided a 9-1 run, capped by interior baskets from Westmoreland seniors Dalton Leath and Zeke Webb. That created a 14-point margin.

Westmoreland High senior guard Dalton Leath penetrates into the lane as White House freshman Jared Ward defends. Leath scored 11 points.

However, White House stormed back thanks largely to its defensive pressure, pulling back to within four points on Cole’s dunk in transition with 2:46 remaining.

“They don’t get rattled,” Jason Graves said of his players. “Cole got the dunk at the end of the game, which was a big momentum-shifter, or it could have been. They didn’t let it be.”

Blue Devil freshman Jared Ward came up with a steal that led to senior point guard Luke Hopkins’ transition layin with 1:29 remaining, creating a two-point margin.

“We just have to get strong with the ball, meet passes and make good passes,” Caleb Graves said. “We did an okay job. We didn’t do what we needed to do when we had that lead.”

However, a layin from junior forward Colton Pippin and free throws by Leath and Webb sealed the win.

Graves (12 points), Leath (11) and Garrison (10) led the Eagles offensively.

Cole scored a game-high 16 points, and Hopkins and Morgan provided 11 and 10 points.

White House High senior point guard Luke Hopkins hangs in the air before releasing a second-quarter layin in front of Westmoreland seniors Zeke Webb (2) and Landon Graves. Hopkins scored 11 points.

It was the Eagles’ seventh consecutive victory.

“It depends on how the players react,” Smith said of being concerned about the back-to-back losses. “If they handle it okay, we’re okay. I just told the guys that any of the six teams playing (in the opening round of next week’s 9-AA Tournament) are going to have a tough game. Our district – other than Cheatham – is a very balanced league. If we come out and play next week, we’ll be okay.”

White House concludes the regular season with a contest against visiting Portland on Monday.

The District 9-AA Tournament begins on Wednesday at White House Heritage High School.

Reach Craig Harris at charris@mtcngroup.com or at 615-575-7138. Follow him on Twitter @HarrisGNESports.

WHITE HOUSE (45) – Bradley Cole 16, Luke Hopkins 11, Malik Morgan 10, Jared Ward 6, Logan Trimmer 2.

WESTMORELAND (52) – Caleb Graves 12, Dalton Leath 11, Lucas Garrison 10, Colton Pippin 8, Zeke Webb 6, Dillon Duffer 2, Landon Graves 2, Landon Dunigan 1.

Half: 21-15, Westmoreland. Three-point goals: White House 4 (Hopkins 2, Cole 1, Ward 1), Westmoreland 2 (Garrison 1, Webb 1). Records: White House 13-12 overall, 7-5 in District 9-AA; Westmoreland 17-10, 9-2.