For Westwood Redhawk boys basketball fans, if this 14-1 start feels familiar, that’s because it is. Westwood has held at least a 14-1 record in each of the last three seasons, all under head coach Trent Robinson.
“We’ve gotten up for the big games,” Robinson said of this year’s squad. “We are still trying to figure out ourselves. We do a good job of competing. We compete well. We still haven’t made it pretty in ways it needs to be pretty. We get off to slow starts. What keeps us going is we have a group that competes.”
During the 2023- 2024 season, the Redhawks started 18-1, finished 23-3, and reached the 4A quarterfinals. Last year, Westwood won its first 13 games en route to a 14-1 record before sputtering down the stretch with an 18-9 overall record and another quarterfinals finish.
There were a few reasons for last year’s rocky finish. For one, Robinson wasn’t consistently at practice or games after his wife had a baby. There was also the tragedy of losing the booster club president to cancer.
“Last year, a bunch of our guys were in their roles for the first time,” Robinson added. “The year before we lost five starters. I think this year’s group is a lot more mature to handle the adversity. Last year it was tough to ask the group to go through something not knowing if their coach would be there. Last year we weren’t mature enough to handle the off the court adversity. This year we have some three-year varsity guys. The majority of our team is two-year varsity guys. When I come into the gym, I don’t have to tell them to get warmed up for practice. I don’t have to tell them to get some game-like shots in. They know.”
While Westwood was sporting an impressive record coming into January, the Redhawks burst onto the scene with wins over the Blythewood Bengals and Ridge View Blazers, the two participants in last year’s 5A Division I State Championship.
“I think it’s huge,” Robinson said. “What spoiled us was my first year. Last year those guys didn’t understand how hard getting a region win was. This year we don’t need to make it seem like just another day. You have to appreciate every region win. I appreciate the Blythewood win. I appreciate the Ridge View win. I appreciate the Spring Valley one. Starting off with those is good, but it only awakens everybody else in the region. Now you have Lugoff-Elgin ready to go. Everybody loves to go after the team with momentum because they believe that team is going to come in complacent. That’s why we are trying to get our guys over the hump. We don’t have to come in complacent.”
Jayden Crews is a Swiss army knife for Westwood. He’s added more versatility to his game, scoring off the dribble and knocking down midrange shots. He’s also tough with tip-ins and rebounds. He was averaging nearly a double double at the beginning of the year. D’Marcus Thomas has been a top point guard since his sophomore year. Daytron Cockfield has been an X-factor for the Redhawks. He stands around 6′-4″ or 6′-5″ and can play either the three or the five.
While those three serve as the backbone of the team, Quentin McGill and Cylan McLeod are impact players as well.
What may make this Westwood team different than those in recent years is its depth. Ariel Huell, Jaylen Donaldson, and A.J. Veal add height and bodies that help the Redhawks in the paint.
The remainder of the January schedule is quite challenging for Westwood. After hosting Lugoff-Elgin, the Redhawks travel to West Florence on Friday, January 16. Then they have two straight home games against Sumter and Blythewood, before traveling to Ridge View on January 27.
Return games against Spring Valley, Lugoff-Elgin, West Florence, and Sumter round out the remaining regular season games.
Westwood’s goal is to get past the quarterfinals of the playoffs. No Redhawks team has ever gotten past the third round, including the last two under Robinson.
“We keep that in the back of our mind,” Robinson said. “We have seven seniors who know what the goal is. They believe it’s that or bust. They have a chip on their shoulder. They don’t want to be the typical Westwood team that makes it to the third round and then gets eliminated. They want to handle business in the region where maybe they don’t have to go on the road in the playoffs. Nothing would be better for them than to host a game where it’s packed. That hasn’t happened at Westwood. They are a brotherhood. They are allowing me to coach them hard. They know I want them to leave school with a big memory. They understand the goal and they are using it to make it easy to coach them. They accept the challenge.”
For Robinson, the biggest key for his team’s success is to stay emotionally strong.
“We are going to go places where the refs are against us,” Robinson said. “It’s region play; everyone needs a win. The biggest thing is to not let the outside noise impact us. We have to stay strong and take care of our bodies. If we do those things, the on-court things will come. If we can stay strong mentally and emotionally through this journey, we will be in a great situation.”
The post Westwood hoping for a different finish to familiar start first appeared on Columbia Star.
January 15, 2026 | Columbia Star, The (SC)
Author/Byline: ops@our-hometown.com | Section: Sport