Westwood boys basketball earns first trip to state championship game
The moment wasn’t too big for the Westwood boys basketball team.
Playing in its first state semifinal in program history, the Redhawks defeated Goose Creek, 56-53, on Friday in the Class 5A Division II Lower State championship at the Florence Center.
Westwood will play defending state champion Greenville in the state championship at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 5 at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia.
“It is new heights for this program, so I am happy,” Westwood coach Trent Robinson said. “Everybody is trusting each other, trusting the administration staff, trusting the athletic department, so trust in me. They are happy, and I am going to let them celebrate because they are going to state.”
The celebration moved from the court into the Redhawks fans and student section, made larger by a couple of bus loads of kids brought to the game.
Westwood is the second Richland 2 school to earn a trip to the championship. The Blythewood girls advanced to the Class 5A Division I championship game with a victory over Mauldin earlier on Friday. Ridge View boys can make it three teams from the district if they defeat Byrnes on Saturday night in Rock Hill.
Robinson told his team in the locker room that they deserved to be there, but they must go out and show it. He also knew his team might struggle and have a “weird start” in the first few minutes which they did. The Gators had runs of 6-0 and 8-0 in the first quarter and led by double digits in the first half.
But the Redhawks eased into things as the game went along and took the lead by halftime.
Cylan McLeod scored a career-high 18 points, and D’Marcus Thomas added 10, including the go-ahead three-point play that gave the Redhawks a 53-50 lead with 1 minute, 5 seconds left.
“When they tied it up, I told coach I got to go get a bucket,” Thomas said. “I ain’t trying to go home. So, I went to the paint, got a little floater, and one. That’s all it really was. We had to keep digging, and we came out with the win.”
The Redhawks led 54-52 when Goose Creek’s Reggie Dozier was fouled going up for a layup with 6 seconds left. He hit the first free throw but missed the second. Westwood’s Jayden Crews grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 4 seconds left.
Crews hit both free throws to make it 56-53. Goose Creek had a chance to tie it. Ja’Quell Brown (who hit a game-tying 3-pointer to send last year’s state championship to overtime) missed a running 3-pointer as time expired.
Goose Creek was looking to make it to its second straight state title game. The Gators lost to Greenville in last year’s championship.
Now, Westwood will get a chance at the Red Raiders, who are led by former Ridge View coach Yerrick Stoneman. Greenville beat Riverside 55-47 on Friday and defeated the Redhawks, 55-50 in a tournament in Florence on Dec. 20. That was Westwood’s first loss of the season.
“We went 10 for 25 from the free-throw line, and our guys were hurt and had a long drive back,” Robinson said of the Greenville loss. “So, I am sure our guys will be excited for this matchup.
This story was originally published February 27, 2026 at 11:43 PM.
