West Limestone coach Justin Taylor stresses tough defense to his players regularly. The Wildcats surely made their coach proud Tuesday night, as they held Clements to just six points in the second half of a 58-24 win in the first round of the Limestone County Tournament.

“It was kind of a sloppy game,” Taylor said. “We had just played Clements Friday night and then had to turn around and play them again, but I was very proud of the defense we played in the second half.”

West defeated Clements 51-20 on Friday night, and Taylor was a little concerned about how his team would respond to playing the Colts again four days later.

Those fears were partially realized in the first half, as Clements hung with West Limestone for most of the first half before the Wildcats finished on a bit of a run to take a 32-18 halftime lead.

“It’s tough to play a team back-to-back, especially if you win the first one,” Taylor said. “We beat them by about 25 the other night, so it’s tough to come back and play them again. Those (Clements) kids play hard, they’re just having a tough season.”

West Limestone put the game beyond all doubt in the second half, outscoring the Colts 26-6 in the final 16 minutes.

Christian Clemmons led West Limestone with 14 points. Chayse Carter was right behind with 13 points and Thorne Slaton tallied 10.

Clements was led by J.T. Farrar with 10 points.

West Limestone, the No. 3 seed, advances to take on second-seeded Tanner in the tournament semifinals at 7:45 p.m. Friday. The two teams split their regular season matchups, with Tanner taking a 68-64 victory on Dec. 3 and West returning the favor with a 52-49 win Jan. 12.

“I expect it will be the same kind of close game,” Taylor said of playing the Rattlers for a third time. “Hopefully it will be like the second one and not the first one. But it will be a good game regardless.”