Cheers erupted from the Westside High School gym Wednesday as members of the Patriots basketball team lead by their biggest fan Auntie Erica Smith emerged from the locker room and walked across the basketball court.
The team heads to the state title game in Macon Thursday where the Patriots will meet the Butler Bulldogs at 3 p.m.
Westside Alumni and radio personalities Austin Rhodes (class of 1983) and Cher Best (class of 1985) rallied the students, faculty and staff during the pep rally.
Although Best was the cheerleader in high school, Rhodes led the gymnasium in a cheer “Motorboat, motorboat, putt, putt, putt. Westside High’s going to beat your butt.”
Best said she was excited to participate in the rally for her alma mater.
When Best and Rhodes were students at Westside, the Patriots’ team fared well on the court going to the state final four in 1982 and taking the 4AAAA region title in 1983. It’s been a long time since the Patriots won a state title.
That distinction goes to the 1994-1995 team.
Going into the state final, Butler and Westside have already met three other times this season. The Patriots pulled out a victory for the region title on Feb. 18 52-38, but Butler took the two previous games 74-52 on Jan. 25 and 50-49 on Dec. 17, 2021.
Lynthia Ross, the Richmond County School System’s spokeswoman, said that Richmond County’s two other teams heading to state did not plan pre-game celebrations.
“Butler and Cross Creek indicate that their celebrations will commence when they bring home the championship trophy,” she said in an email.
In Columbia County, Grovetown will also play in the state finals at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
