West Limestone's Caroline Bachus looks for a teammate to pass to Thursday during the finals of the Class 4A, Area 15 tournament. Bachus scored 30 points to lead West to a 64-35 win over Brooks.

West Limestone had been in a bit of an offensive funk at the end of the regular season. In late season losses to Tanner and Athens, the Wildcats scored 36 and 38 points, respectively.

Those offensive struggles were a thing of the past in Thursday’s Class 4A, Area 15 tournament final, as West racked up 59 points in the first three quarters and cruised to a 64-35 victory over Brooks to take the area title.

Caroline Bachus was the offensive catalyst for the Wildcats, scoring 30 points in three quarters, which included six 3-pointers. Bachus, a highly-touted freshman who already holds several SEC offers, had been struggling with her outside shot, but said lots of work in practice got her confidence up, and once the first one went in, she kept on firing.

“I’ve been focusing a lot on my shot, perfecting it and really getting it how I want it,” Bachus said. “I’ve worked really hard on it, so it’s great for it to start paying off in a game.”

Bachus’ night was going so well that her sixth 3-pointer, which came midway through the third quarter and put West up 54-20, banked in off the backboard, leading to a wide smile and shoulder shrug from the freshman.

Due to Area 15 having only three teams, West did not have to play in a semifinal, and was guaranteed a spot in the sub-regional round whether the team won or lost Thursday. With the win, the Wildcats will host Deshler, the runner-up from Area 16.

While the Wildcats didn’t need to win to continue their season, a convincing win gives West confidence as the team continues deeper into the postseason, Bachus said.

“This is it, it’s a new season,” she said. “What we say is ‘Why not?’ Why not be great, why not make shots, why not work hard? We’ve had some good practices the last couple weeks and it’s really showing.”

Carlie Belle Winter also scored 10 points for West Limestone in the rout.

The only negative from Thursday’s game was an injury suffered by starting point guard Cassidy Winter, who scored seven points before leaving the game midway through the third quarter. She did not return.

West Limestone coach Chasity Legg said Thursday’s victory was the result of a couple of great weeks of practice.

“I just think we’ve practiced really hard the past couple of weeks,” she said. “It was a great team win. I thought overall we played great offensively and defensively.”