LAKEWOOD - Arvada West served up a holiday upset special when they beat Lakewood 63-57 Tuesday night in the Tigers’ building.

Or did they?

The Wildcats were supposed to be a work in progress this season in 5A Jeffco, but after their win on Tuesday they improved to 4-1 on the season.

On the other hand, the Tigers were looked at as a team who could be league title worthy at the start of the season, but after their loss they fall to 4-3 on the season.

Have expectations changed just weeks into the season?

“This was a really big win for us I am really happy for our guys. Lakewood is a really good team so we feel like we are heading in the right direction,” A-West coach Jeff Parriott said.

The Wildcats got 15 points apiece from a pair of seniors in Thomas Neff and Marcus Culhane. But they were hardly a two-man show. A-West also got nine points each from three other players including sophomore Luke Neff.

But how A-West beat Lakewood was most impressive. The Wildcats attacked the Tigers early in their building and created a 23-12 first quarter lead.

Lakewood chipped away at the lead over the next three quarters and would in fact come within one possession of tying the game late in the fourth quarter.

But A-West continued to execute offensively and added a few late defenses stops for the road victory.

“I am not feeling really good about that one,” Lakewood coach Daryl; Johnson said. “But there is nothing we can do about it now. Now we have to find away to correct the things that went wrong for us tonight.”

Lakewood will host Ralston Valley Jan. 4 at 2 p.m.

A-West will host Bear Creek Jan. 4 at 7 p.m.