By Thomas Grant Jr.
The sounds of players dribbling and hustling up and down the court on defense.
For the high school sports fan, it represents the transition from outdoor football to indoor basketball.
At Westwood High School, the boys basketball season literally starts earlier than most. In the Redhawks’ case, it means rising up early for 2-hour morning practices starting at 6 a.m. at The Castle.
Before settling in for daily classes, the players and head coach Trent Robinson are honing their skills for the upcoming season. Playing in the same region as defending Class 5A defending champion Ridge View and Division II runner-up Blythewood, there’s a high motivation to stay ahead of the competition.
“I think we want to just step out of our comfort zone,” Robinson said. “I think the past couple of years, we’re always in our comfort zone. So, we’re trying to do things a little different. Get them up in the morning.”
Westwood returns eight seniors, including 3-year starting guard D’Marcus Thomas, Jayden Crews, White Knoll transfer Cylan McLeod and forward Daytron Cockfield. Leading rebounder A.J. Veal and fellow forward Ariel Huell are back for their junior seasons.
Robinson is hoping the early practices as well as a challenging non-region schedule will develop more mental toughness to reach their goals. He points to last year where the Redhawks dropped five straight Region 5-4A games.
This affected their playoff standing which meant playing at tough rough environments like Conway and Berkeley. Westwood opens the season with a 2-night Thanksgiving Shootout at home Nov. 24-25, play in the Stars and Stripes Showcase at W.J. Keenan High School on Dec. 6 and the Wilson Showcase at North Augusta Dec. 19-20.
The Redhawks open region play Jan. 2 at Blythewood.
