Feel the beat: No. 1 Westlake cruises past Lone Peak into the 6A semifinals
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- Malik Sika led his team with 26 points and here rises above the Lone Peak defense for a jump short during his team’s 82-67 win over the Knights on Wednesday. February 25, 2026
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- Westlake’s Lincoln Norwood and Malik Sika work to defend a Lone Peak lay-up attempt in the Thunder’s big win over Lone Peak on Wednesday. February 25, 2026
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- Lone Peak guard Jayden Hughes works the ball up the court during his team’s loss to Westlake on Wednesday. February 25, 2026
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- Westlake forward Lincoln Norwood drives toward the basket during his team’s win over Lone Peak in the 6A state quarterfinals. February 25, 2026
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- Westlake’s Lincoln Norwood drives toward the basket and played a big role in his team’s big win over Lone Peak on Wednesday. February 25, 2026
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- Westlake’s Malik Sika had a big game and scored a game-high 26 points in his team’s 82-67 win over Lone Peak on Wednesday. February 25, 2026
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- Westlake point guard Graydin Anderson scored 21 points during his team’s 82-67 win over Lone Peak on Wednesday. February 25, 2026
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- Lone Peak’s Camden Breadhead secures a contested rebound during his team’s loss to Westlake in the 6A state quarterfinals. February 25, 2026
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- Thunder forward Lincoln Norwood scores two of his nine points during his team’s 82-67 win over Lone Peak on Wednesday. February 25, 2026
SALT LAKE CITY — Late in Westlake’s 82-67 6A boys basketball quarterfinal victory against No. 8 Lone Peak on Wednesday, game management forgot to turn off the music in the Huntsman Center after a time out. The Thunder broke the Knights press and got the ball up ahead to 6-foot-3 junior Malik Sika, who sailed in for a layup to the beat of the hip-hop song playing in the background.
Sika and his teammates played with a great rhythm all game long in advancing to the semifinals for the first time since 2022.
“It’s fast-paced energy,” Sika said. “It’s fast. We get a defensive board and we’re just running and gunning. We wanted to take advantage of that against Lone Peak because their known to slow the ball down. For us, we’re trying to run and gun and if we can speed them up, we can throw them off.”
Sika –also an all-state wide receiver for the Thunder — was in a really good groove on Wednesday, making 6 of 7 from the 3-point line to finish with a game-high 26 points.
“He’s a heck of an athlete, isn’t he?” Westlake head coach Nate Carling said. “He’s been on a roll all year long, from football right to basketball. He’s just a tough kid and the sky’s the limit for him. I’m really proud of the way he’s stepped up and is hitting shots for us. Getting a lead was really important and he was the instrument in getting us that lead.”
Graydin Anderson scored 21 points and was 10 of 11 from the foul line for the the top-seeded Thunder, keeping Lone Peak at bay in the fourth quarter.
Crew Fotheringham led the Knights (15-11) with 14 points and nine rebounds, with Jayden Hughes scoring 13 and Cole Caton 12.
Lone Peak got off to a great start with six points from Fotheringham, followed by a trio of 3-pointers — two from Hughes and one from Caton — for a 19-9 first quarter lead. Westlake responded with eight straight points to close the quarter to trail by just two, then extended the run through the first part of the second quarter with 11 consecutive points — 3-point shots from Walker Jensen, Anderson and Sika in the run — for a 25-19 advantage with 5:10 to play.
Lone Peak recovered and outscored the Thunder 12-4 over the next five minutes, including a pair of 3-pointers from Saxon Young, and trailed by just one, 32-31, at halftime.
Westlake pushed the pace in the third quarter and outscored the Knights 21-6, getting a pair of triples from Sika and five points from Anderson, for a 53-37 advantage entering the fourth. The lead reached 21 points, 66-45, on a Walker Jensen layup with three minutes left. Lone Peak went into scramble mode to try and extend the game but could get no closer than nine points. Sika threw down a breakaway dunk and Westlake made 10 straight free throws to finish the game.
Westlake won its first 16 games of the season before losing to Herriman in Region 2 play. The Thunder lost the final two games of region play to Mountain Ridge and again to Herriman but appears to have gotten back on track.
“We have not had a bad practice all year,” Carling said. “These kids have tremendous character, they have tremendous families and they show up every practice. When you get to this level, you’re going to fall back to your standard, what you do every day. So we’ve really emphasized to just come out every day for practice and be your best. With these kids (after the losses), that didn’t change anything.”
Westlake (22-3) will take on No. 13 seed Lehi in one of Thursday’s semifinals after the Pioneers topped No. 12 Farmington 67-59 in the quarterfinals.
The Thunder earned a 66-60 win against Lehi on Dec. 3.
“This is still kind of surreal,” Sika said about his state tournament experience. “I’m not used to it but I’m taking in every moment, right? With the brotherhood of this team, we get after each other and we aren’t No. 1 for no reason. We can play with anyone in the state and we proved that as we fought throw being down 8-10 points. Down the stretch, we really came together.”
