With four core players from last year’s state quarterfinal team, the Westlake High girls basketball team has forged one of their best starts in decades.

Seniors Lady Fradieu and Tierra Bargeman, plus junior twins Gabby and Maddy Guillory, led the Rams to an upset of No. 4 French Settlement in the regional round last season and have the Rams sitting in the No. 1 spot in the Nonselect Division III power ratings with an 11-0 record.

“The four coming off last year are really key,” Westlake head coach Gloria Fontenot said. “They play well together. They have chemistry. They have experience.”

Fontenot says she sees similarities to the Rams’ 2013 semifinal team.

“I have said this to them, they remind me a lot of the group that made it to the semifinals,” Fontenot said. “They are different in a lot of ways, but they are the same in a lot of ways.

“They play well together. They have the experience and leadership. They communicate. You have to have that. They have been playing for years together.”

The Rams have held their own on offense but at times have long scoring droughts. They can keep the pressure up on the defensive end with a solid half-court game. Kinder was the lone school to score more than 35 points against Westlake, which allows 30 points a game.

“Defensively, in a half-court set, we are not too bad, and we are still early in this,” Fontenot said. “I tell them ‘It is fun to watch y’all play defense.’

“I have had teams that could press and they are fun to watch. But just that half-court defense, we do some good things. We need to clean up some stuff. We need to talk and communicate because we give up some stuff. We can get into the passing lanes.”

They held Class 5A Sulphur to fewer than 30 points (29) for the second time this season on Tuesday and forced 20 turnovers. Westlake won 35-29.

Westlake shot over 45 percent in the first quarter and led 14-6 on three 3-pointers by Gabby Guillory. But the Tors’ defense started to wear on the Rams, keeping them out of the lane and without a field goal in the third quarter. It is part of the inconsistency on offense the Rams have experienced partly due to injuries. Fradieu and Bargeman have missed time recently, but both were in the lineup Tuesday. Sulphur shot 10 percent in the second half.

“We can transition,” Fontenot said. “We can run offenses.

“People are throwing junk (defenses) at us right now that we are trying to find rhythm in, and we did. We came out in the first half and found that, and in the second half we didn’t. It is a work in progress. We are going to get it. At the end of the day, they do find a way to win.

“We have multiple people that can score. We haven’t yet hit it all at the same time, though. If that ever happens and hit every quarter of scoring, it is going to be fun to watch. We haven’t got there yet. Part of it is the injuries.”

Freshmen Hallie Wilrye and Alicia Cuppens have played significantly while the Rams sort out the injuries.

“Those babies have stepped up,” Fontenot said. “It is impressive to watch those freshmen get in.

“They don’t even play like freshmen. They will make a lot happen for us. That is a big thing for them. Battling the injuries has put a little kink, but my kids find a way to win even when it is tough. Lady got injured, so both freshmen have been starting just about every game the last two, to two-and-half weeks. Tierra went down this past weekend. Lady came back and Tierra was playing on a hurt ankle. We were going to hold her (Tuesday). So both seniors are hurt. Those babies have been getting a lot of playing time. Tierra came in. She has a swollen ankle, but she played through it because we needed her defense. And she offers a lot on defense. She does all the dirty work and gritty stuff. She did a good job considering that.”

Another area the Rams want to improve in, Fontenot said, is on the boards. Sulphur outrebounded them 20-13, including 10 offensive rebounds.

“We need to get rebounds,” Fontenot said. “We give up too much of that sometimes.

‘I hope this isn’t the case, but it is only a matter of time before we tell them after one of the games that we lost because we were outrebounded. We have to secure rebounds, and sometimes we are not securing those. We gave up 10 offensive rebounds. We have to do a better job on the rebounding part. It has to be a focus moving forward.”