When Dr. James Naismith invented the game of basketball in the early 1890s, 12 players were on the floor at one time with three assigned to each side of the court. By the 1930s, the Amateur Athletic Union was giving women a platform to play Naismith’s game in the national spotlight. Now, eighty some years later, women have adapted the five-on-five rules, and Westside is playing their best basketball yet.

The year was 2015, and Quinn Weidemann, who would eventually go down in Westside history as one of the greatest players to sport a Warrior jersey, was a mere freshman. Head coach Steve Clark had led Westside to a 20 win season and the state tournament. They would go on to win their first state championship since 1999, and that’s when it all began.

Between the years of 1990 and 2010, the Warriors qualified for the state tournament 10 times, but they took two trips to the finals and came out on top once. But since 2015—-since that freshman won her first state championship—-the Westside program has become nearly unstoppable.

The Warriors have qualified for the state tournament four of the last five seasons with the one miss coming in a season in which they hosted a district. Coach Clark and his girls are 6-2 at the state tournament in that time period, which is the best mark in a five year span in school history on both the boys and girls sides, with two state championships to show for it.

Since then, Hudl has crowned Weidemann as a Gatorade Player of the Year, and she was the second Warrior to ever earn the award in any sport.  Multiple Warriors from these teams are still playing basketball at the next level, including Weidemann.

Although it’s a storied program that once qualified for the tournament five seasons in a row, the success that the teams have had in the postseason in recent years is unmatched at Westside. So, when the Warriors return three of five starters to the court next season, get out and support them because they’re making school history.