Photo by Heather Belcher
It’s been a tumultuous season for Westside which endured an 0-2 start against quality opponents and a coaching change shortly afterwards. But enduring the storm has led to brighter horizons.
Winners of 11 of their last 12 contests, the Renegades enter the state tournament as the No.3 seed where they’ll face No. 6 Doddridge County in a Class AA quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. in the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
“The amount of excitement going on in this community right now is indescribable,” Westside head coach Nick Cook said. “The community support has been amazing and the kids are eating it up. They’re super excited and I’m just happy for them. The amount of work they’ve put in and the reward and attention they’re getting, it’s awesome for them.”
As hot as any team in the field, it isn’t just that the Renegades are scorching, it’s who they’ve scorched.
During their win streak the Renegades have beaten Class AAA state tournament teams No. 2 Shady Spring, No. 5 Chapmanville, Class AA tournament teams No. 4 Wyoming East and No. 5 Logan and Class A tournament team No. 4 Greater Beckley. It’s as impressive of a resume as one can expect entering Charleston. But the past can only prepare you for the future, not take care of it for you.
Cook, a veteran of the Coliseum, will be tasked with helping there.
Having last coached in a state tournament game in 2015 before stepping down, Cook’s hiatus away has lasted almost as long as the program’s from Charleston with the last tournament appearance coming in 2018. He’ll be tasked with guiding a group that’s unfamiliar with the state’s biggest stage.
“We’re just trying to stay business as usual, that’s the main thing,” Cook said. “We have adapted our practice plan and all that because 9:30 a.m., you don’t play any games in the season at that time. But the good thing about that is it’s the same thing for both teams. For me that’s the toughest part of this whole thing – trying to get the kids in a routine to play that early in the morning. Kids these days, they like to sleep in so 9:30 is pretty early. But these kids will do whatever I ask them right now. I said, ‘Guys, we can get on a routine and make some sacrifices to get where we need to be or let it be business as usual and be happy with what we’ve done’ and they’ve responded well.
“As far as the (Coliseum) itself, there’s no way to prepare any kid for that when they run out there on that floor. We just have to hope we settle in and do the things we can do faster than any team does. It’s going to be the same for (Doddridge), granted they were there last year so they’ve done it once. At the same time every year you go you’re just as excited as the last year.”
The Renegades consistent of an ensemble of players that can hurt you any given night. Kadien Vance, Bryson Blankenship, Austin Bishop, Coltin Lester and Kyler Kenneda, all seniors, are amongst the players that have scored in double figures for Westside this season. They’ll be tasked with stopping. acomeptiev Doddridge County team that has some size, anchored by 6-foot-8 center Jaden Solomon and guard Jarod Trent.
“They’re a strong physical team it seems like,” Cook said. “They like to try and get to the basket so we’ve got tot do a really good job of staying in front of them and cutting off their driving lanes. They’ve got a big kid in the middle they like to get the ball to and he does a really good job offensive rebounding. We’ve got to keep him off the boards and build that wall and get him to try and settle for some perimeter shots because it seems like percentages go down when you’re there. Then we’ve got to do a great job blocking out and rebounding.”
