A good start and strong finish on Friday night added up to Westwood knocking off rival Mesa High, 47-36, in a 6A East Valley Region girls basketball game at Westwood.

Westwood took charge in the first quarter opening up an 18-7 lead. Over the middle quarters Mesa whittled the deficit to two several times in the third period. The Warriors clamped down in the final stanza outscoring the Jackrabbits 14-6 to get back to where the game was after the first quarter.

Westwood, the defending region champion, improved to 4-0 overall with all of its victories within the region. The Warriors complete their first go-round of region play at Dobson on Tuesday with first place hanging in the balanace. Mesa is 2-2 with both losses in region play to Dobson and Westwood and wins over Mountain View and Red Mountain. The Jackrabbits visit Skyline on Tuesday.

Westwood's goal, as is anyone who faces Mesa this season, is to slow the guard tandem of sophomore Ashiian Hunter and junior Mackenzie Shivers. Hunter and Shivers entered the game averaging a combined 41 points a game. Westwood did well in that endeavor as Shivers netted a team-high 15 and Hunter scored 11.

"Those two are like lightning in a bottle," Westwood coach Ron Campton said. "Our aim was to stretch it out. Limit the times they are going to get hot. I thought we did a good job with that. (Mesa) Coach (Katie) Fonseca has done a great job building the program up . They play us tough every time."

Hunter connected on just 4 of 22 shots (18 percent) and Shivers 6 of 16 (37 percent). They were making 46 and 49 percent from the field, respectively, in the first three games.

Mesa finished third in the East Valley Region last year behind Westwood and Dobson. Its four region losses were to Westwood and Dobson (two each) and is 0-2 this season as it tries to improve on last year's 15-13 season.

Westwood got its usual play from senior guard Mya Johnson. Johnson scored a game-high 17 points, nine in the opening period. The Warriors feature a more balanced attack with their starters and Campton praised leading scorer in the early going this season of Nyese Jones and double- figure scorer Nikkianna Kinsel for sacrificing in this game. Jones scored seven points and Kinsel six, well below their averages.

"Nyese and Nikki were more decoys tonight because we needed them to focus on defending their guards," Campton said. "It was selfless play on their part."