Westwood Redhawks Win State Basketball Championship

0:00On March 6th, Westwood High School's Red Hawks just captured their first-ever state basketball championship. On Thursday night, they beat Greenville 67-55 in the Class 5 at Division 2 final at Colonial Life Arena. Stars D, Marcus Thomas and Jaden Cruz led the way with 26 and 23 points respectively. This marks the program's inaugural title since opening in 2012 and only the second across all team sports there. Coach Robinson, just 28 when hired three years ago, built this squad from his junior varsity days with five seniors who started under him. Back then, earlier this season, Greenville had edged Westwood and a close rematch, 55-50. The Red Hawks shot poorly from the line that night but flipped the script, hitting 25-32 free throws in the championship. The game mirrored their playoff pattern, starting slow with an 18-4 deficit in the first quarter. But Westwood clawed back in the second and exploded in the third, outscoring Greenville 20-6 for a 48-39 lead.

1:05Thomas and Cruz owned that surge, proving their back court dominance despite cramps and fouls late. These seven seniors turned early doubts into pure grit, delivering a historic win that'll echo for years at Westwood.