Westfield senior Tanleigh Bestine, left, dribbles the ball beyond the 3-point line as Chautauqua Lake freshman Kaylee Tarr, right, defends in a Section VI, Class C girls basketball prequarterfinal playoff game at Westfield Academy on Wednesday. P-J photo by Braden Carmen

WESTFIELD — With a minute left to play in Wednesday’s Section VI Class C prequarterfinal at Westfield Academy, Wolverines star senior Tanleigh Bestine sat on the bench smiling. With teammates Naomi Ottey and Sydney Hotchkiss beside her, the trio held up a “W” with their hands.

Whether the letter stood for the school they call home or for the result in their favor that night, Bestine got to walk out of the home gym one last time with a “W” in hand after No. 8 Westfield defeated No. 9 Chautauqua 65-29.

Westfield held a narrow lead after the opening quarter, 11-7, behind seven early points from Bestine, the second leading scorer in school history.

“Tanleigh did what Tanleigh does. I’m blessed to have her on my team,” Westfield head coach Chris Dole said.

The Wolverines maintained a narrow advantage early in the second quarter, 14-9, but the lead quickly grew throughout the next six minutes of action. Westfield went on a 10-0 scoring run to pull ahead 24-9 with two minutes left in the first half.

The Wolverines extended the lead to 32-13 just two minutes into the second half on a corner 3-pointer by Eva Gnadzinski.

“She was everywhere tonight,” Dole said of Gnadzinski, who finished with 13 points.

Chautauqua Lake responded with seven quick points, including a four-point play from Kaylee Tarr, to bring Westfield’s lead down to 34-20. But from that point on, Westfield held Chautauqua Lake in check. The Wolverines maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the period and led 43-27 entering the fourth quarter.

Eighth-grader Reagan Weingart recorded her first varsity bucket in the first minute of the fourth quarter for the Wolverines, who led by 20 points just a minute into the final frame. Another varsity newcomer, Nahlia Douglas, hit a 3-pointer in the final minute of the period.

“Overall, I’m pretty pleased with the effort. The effort was really, really good. There was a lot of energy on the bench and it just carried over to the floor,” Dole said.

Wednesday’s game was especially meaningful for Chautauqua Lake head coach Mike Putney, a longtime Westfield teacher, who coached against a team full of players he had as students.

“It’s neat to see for them. I’ve said before, if we’re not winning, I hope down the road they do well,” Putney said.

Putney even remembers Bestine’s parents, Kyle and Lauren, and isn’t the least bit surprised that Tanleigh became one of the best players Westfield has ever seen.

“Kyle was just a phenomenal point guard, and you can see those attributes (in Tanleigh), and Lauren was another fine player,” Putney said. “I have a lot of respect for Kyle and Lauren, and Tanleigh too. It’s really neat to see. She’s a great player.”

But the Westfield connection was not the only reason Wednesday was special for Putney, as he coached his daughter, Quinn, in her final high school basketball game. Her night came to an early end, as she picked up her fifth foul of the game just a minute into the second half, after being tasked with guarding Bestine for most of the time she was in the game.

“Quinn is the epitome of what you want a team to be about. She’s my senior who does the little things. She always says good things about people, and she’s always picking people up,” Putney said. “We had a lot of young girls this year, and Quinn is always the one that includes them. … Quinn did that each and every day at practice. That’s the type of girl she is.”

Kaylee Tarr led the Eagles with 19 points in Wednesday’s defeat. Elise Riedesel added seven points for Chautauqua Lake.

Bestine led all scorers on Wednesday with 27 points, which was nothing new for the Wolverines. Bestine led the team in every statistical category on the season, even in assists despite accounting for more than half of the team’s points on the season. She eclipsed 500 points on the season on Wednesday.

“She’s left her mark. She has become that person. All these girls look up to her and want to be like her. She’s a good role model,” Dole said of Bestine.

Gnadzinski also contributed 13 points, while Hotchkiss added 7 points and Weingart had 6 points in the fourth quarter of her varsity debut, along with four rebounds and two blocked shots.

“When everybody hooks up to the sled and starts pulling, it moves a lot easier through the snow,” Dole said. “With everybody contributing, they fed off one another.

Up next, the Wolverines travel to No. 1 Holland on Friday at 7 p.m.

“They are No. 1 for a reason. They are sitting at the top of the mountain, we’ve got to go knock them off,” Dole said. “… I like our chances.”

CHAUTAUQUA LAKE (29)

KarTarr 0 1 1, Gollhardt 0 2 2 KenTarr 0 0 0, Reyda 0 0 0, Putney 0 0 0, Riedesel 3 1 7, KayTarr 6 6 19, Lyle 0 0 0, Donato 0 0 0. Totals 9 10 29.

WESTFIELD (65)

SWolfe 1 1 3, Hotchkiss 3 0 7, Post 0 0 0, Burgess 0 0 0, Weingart 3 0 6, Bestine 7 9 27, OWolfe 0 1 1, Ottey 0 0 0, Schumaker 0 1 1, Douglas 1 0 3, Gnadzinski 4 2 13, Nollinger 2 0 4. Totals 21 14 65.

3-point goals–KayTarr, Hotchkiss, Bestine 4, Douglas, Gnadzinski 3.

Chautauqua Lake 7 3 17 2 — 29

Westfield 11 13 19 22 — 65