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Westside riding late-season push as sectional play begins

Joey White for WVMetroNews.com

CLEAR FORK, W.Va. – Riding the momentum of late season success, Westside is looking to get back to the state tournament after missing out a season ago.

The Renegades were up and down early in the season under first year head coach Shawn Jenkins. A challenging schedule included losses to Morgantown, Bluefield, Logan and Wyoming East as the Renegades entered the end of January with a 6-6 record.

With the season hanging in the balance, Jenkins held a team meeting to re-establish their goals for the rest of the year.

“We were struggling and going through some things,” said Jenkins. “We finally sat down as a team and had a heart to heart and talked about what we wanted to accomplish this year.”

The Renegades regrouped to beat Princeton on Jan. 27, but Jenkins believes the turning point for Westside’s season came in a 74-64 victory over Logan the following day.

“When you go through a little adversity, you really find out what kind of team you have,” said Jenkins. “Our kids started showing grit, and started holding themselves accountable. We got on this hot streak, and things kind of turned around for us.”

Following those early season woes, the Renegades have won nine of their last 10 games heading into sectional play, including revenge wins over Wyoming East and Oak Hill. The biggest win of the season, however, came on Feb. 14 in a 78-77 victory over rival Bluefield, ranked as the top AA team in the MetroNews Power Index at the time.

Westside controlled the flow for much of the contest, at one point up 14 points in the fourth quarter. Bluefield, though, was able to carve its way back into the contest, eventually taking a one-point lead with only a few seconds left.

“I knew they were going to make a run at us sooner or later,” said Jenkins. “They’ve always been a great program so I knew they were going to push and come at us, and they did.”

With the game on the line, the ball fell in the hands of guard Shane Jenkins, who the sunk the game-winning jumper as time expired.

“We actually had a play designed and Bluefield overplayed it,” said Coach Jenkins. “He (Shane Jenkins) had to backtrack and once he got it he had to create something to get to his sweet spot, and that’s what he got.”

Handing Bluefield one of its only losses this season grabbed some attention statewide for the Renegades, only adding to the postseason dramatics in Class AA Region 3.

“We’ve played one another since about the sixth grade, so they know one another really well,” said Jenkins. “It’s a lot of fun every time they go at it.”

Westside (15-7) is the top seed in Region 3, Section 1 and will begin sectional play on Tuesday. Wyoming East is the two-seed in that section, while Bluefield holds the top seed in the opposing section.

“It’s not going to be easy; every game is going to be tough,” said Jenkins. “You can’t go in lackadaisical. You have to go in focused knowing what you have to do that night to get the job done, because anybody can beat anyone else (in this region).”

WESTSIDE
2016-2017 Boys Basketball Schedule

1 12/09/16 7:30PM A – PIKEVIEW  66 64  W
2 12/16/16 7:30PM A – MAGNOLIA HIGH SCHOOL  79 58  W
3 12/17/16 7:30PM A – MORGANTOWN  40 51  L
4 12/21/16 7:30PM H – PRINCETON SENIOR  59 40  W
5 12/28/16 6:00PM A – GREENBRIER EAST TOURNAMENT  84 40  W
6 12/29/16 6:00PM A – GREENBRIER EAST TOURNAMENT  66 70  L
7 01/06/17 7:30PM H – WYOMING EAST  44 56  L
8 01/10/17 7:30PM A – LIBERTY (RALEIGH)  85 32  W
9 01/11/17 7:330PM H – LOGAN  57 62  L
10 01/13/17 7:30PM H – MAN HIGH SCHOOL  116 50  W
11 01/17/17 7:30PM H – BLUEFIELD  87 89  L
12 01/24/17 7:30PM A – OAK HILL  48 55  L
13 01/27/17 7:30PM A – PRINCETON SENIOR  44 43  W
14 01/28/17 7:30PM A – LOGAN  74 64  W
15 01/31/17 7:30PM A – MAN HIGH SCHOOL  95 41  W
16 02/03/17 7:30PM H – PIKEVIEW  75 70  W
17 02/07/17 7:30PM H – LIBERTY (RALEIGH)  80 48  W
18 02/08/17 7:30PM A – RCB AT THE CHARLESTON CIVIC CENTER  62 67  L
19 02/10/17 7:30PM A – WYOMING EAST  65 54  W
20 02/14/17 7:30PM A – BLUEFIELD  78 77  W
21 02/17/17 7:30 PM H – OAK HILL  66 47  W
22 02/21/17 7:30PM A – GREATER BECKLEY CHRISTIAN  94 64  W
 wins: 15   lost: 7   ties: 0




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