While running back on defense, Lewis-Clark State men’s basketball player Josiah Westbrook delivered a message as he passed the opposing bench.

“I’m a big-time player,” Westbrook recalled saying.

He certainly was.

Westbrook finished with 19 points and the No. 7 Warriors beat No. 17 Carroll 75-54 on Monday night at the Activity Center to give L-C its second straight Frontier Conference tournament title and its fourth in six years.

Key to that was L-C guard Hodges Bailey, who held Carroll’s Dane Warp to 12 points — and just two in the second half.

“Warp shredded us the last game,” L-C coach Austin Johnson said, referring to Carroll’s 68-57 win at the Activity Center on Feb. 22. “And tonight, we made no adjustments.

“I just told people our adjustment was (that) we were going to play better.”

Which the Warriors certainly did.

Westbrook and L-C’s second-leading scorer on Monday, Travis Yenor (15 points), combined to go 8-for-14 from 3 — with those treys coming at crucial moments.

Five minutes into the second half, Carroll (24-9) had pulled within single digits of the Warriors (29-3) when Westbrook knocked down one of his five 3-pointers — and he wasn’t done.

Westbrook added a block on Carroll’s next possession, and soon after assisted on a 3-pointer to Yenor to give the Warriors a 15-point lead with 13:59 left.

“I’m just glad that Trav got that strap on him,” Westbrook said.

With three minutes left in the first half, the Saints had pulled to within five when the hosts got an answer from another one of their Bellingham, Wash., products: Damek Mitchell (who played prep hoops with Westbrook at Squaulicum High).

Mitchell hit a 3, assisted on a cut by a teammate to reestablish a 10-point lead, and then took a charge on Carroll’s next possession to further shift the momentum to L-C, which finished the first half leading by 12.

“My team just gave me the ball at the right times,” Mitchell said.

The Warriors distanced themselves from Carroll with a 14-5 run about eight minutes in — with Westbrook jump-starting the skein with a pull-up 3 and four additional Warriors scoring (including Yenor twice).

“We do everything together,” Yenor said.

Westbrook opened each half by hitting a 3 on his first attempt and scored L-C’s first seven points of the game. Carroll didn’t score a field goal until about five minutes into the contest and finished the evening shooting 35 percent.

PAYBACK? — How did L-C’s players respond when a television reporter asked them about “getting that monkey off your back,” since Carroll had handed L-C two of its three losses this season?

“We don’t really look at the name on the jersey we’re playing,” Yenor said. “We just try to do our best every game.”

Later, though, Westbrook noted that after his team had lost to Carroll two weeks ago, he’d heard some of the Saints question his team’s toughness.

“They said we were soft, and I wasn’t going to say too much during the game,” Westbrook said. “I’m just glad we got that game back.”

INJURY UPDATE — With 11:30 left in the first half, the Warriors’ Khalil Stevenson was called for a charge and stayed down on the court for a few minutes. The junior guard was taken into the training room and reappeared later with his left arm in a sling.

“It sounds like Khalil might have broken his arm,” Johnson said.

CARROLL (24-9)

Warp 4-11 3-4 12, Flowers III 0-6 3-4 3, Okeke 0-3 0-0 0, Sljivancanin 4-11 3-4 11, Campbell 4-8 2-2 12, Lieberg 0-0 0-0 0, Villa 2-5 0-0 4 Patton 0-1 0-0 0, Ramirez 2-2 3-3 7, Hillman 0-1 0-0 0, Temple 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 18-51 14-17 54.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (29-3)

Yenor 6-8 0-0 15, Bradley 1-6 3-4 5, Westbrook 7-12 0-0 19, Bailey 3-3 0-0 6, Mitchell 4-10 2-2 12, Stevenson 0-0 0-0 0, Hughes 1-1 0-0 3, Boyd 1-1 0-0 2, Moffatt 0-0 0-0 0, Albright 4-7 5-5 13. Totals 27-48 10-11 75.

Halftime — L-C 37, CC 25. 3-point goals —L-C 11-25 (Yenor 3-5, Bradley 0-4, Westbrook 5-9, Mitchell 2-6, Hughes 1-1), CC 4-15 (Warp 1-4, Flowers III 0-3, Okeke 0-1, Campbell 2-3, Villa 0-2, Temple 1-2). Assists —L-C 19 (Mitchell 8), CC 8 (Warp 3). Rebounds — L-C 34 (Bradley 9), CC 21 (Warp 8). Fouls — L-C 15, CC 18. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.

Edelman may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 848-2277.