This past weekend, the Warrior boys varsity basketball team started off their season with a four-team tournament alongside Lincoln Northeast, second-ranked Bellevue West and the Fremont Tigers. The Warriors came into the weekend ranked fifth amongst Class A teams and looked to prove that they belonged in that spot. On Thursday, Westside set up their season opener at home against the Lincoln Northeast Rockets. The Rockets, who had won only 6 games in the last two years after going winless in their 2017-2018 campaign, gave them a scare. 

After the first half, the two teams held steady at 24 points aside after the Warriors were held to five points in the second quarter. Both teams fought back and forth throughout the second half, but four fourth-quarter three pointers by Jadin Booth helped Westside pull away for the five point win, 66-61. Sophomore Payson Gilespie felt that his teammate’s performance not only put up points but also set up opportunities for other players.

“He has helped us to open up other guys like PJ [Ngambi] and Carl [Brown] for them to be an offensive threat because [the defense is] focused on guarding Jadin,” Gillespie said. “We came together as a team and got stops we needed to win the game.”

After the win on Thursday, the Warriors headed down to Lincoln Northeast High School and matched up against the second-ranked Bellevue West for the tournament final. In the first top ten matchup of the season, Westside and the Thunderbirds went toe-to-toe as Jadin Booth sunk another 20+ point performance while both sophomore Reggie Thomas and senior Carl Brown got into double digits on the night. However, in the end, the lack of a true big man in the middle hurt the Warriors as the Thunderbirds grabbed 32 rebounds off the glass. With a 23 point effort from Bellevue West’s Chucky Hepburn and a 19 point night by senior Louis Fidler, the Warriors fell to the second-ranked Thunderbirds. 

Senior Jadin Booth, who put up 52 combined points in the first two games of the year, said he felt the team worked hard and truly played as a team. 

“[We’re] being unselfish, we all share the ball really well. We don’t care who scores. We trust what coach is doing and we trust what each other [are] doing,” Booth said.

From the weekend, the Warriors kept it within range with their opponents all minutes on the floor. Even though the final outcome wasn’t what the team had wanted, Booth said he felt that the team showed how good they could be and knew what to grow upon.

“From the Bellevue West game, coach said we’re just three shots away. Our motto is “two more” so just get two more stops than what we have been. Just being able to find ways to get stops when we need them and just closing out games to win,” Booth said. “I don’t think anyone can overlook us. I don’t think anyone can doubt us. We know now that we can play with anybody. I think we all have a chip on our shoulder. We definitely know that we can play with anybody and that we will give them our best shot.”

This Friday night, the Warriors stay at home to go up against the Huskies of Omaha Northwest before heading to Papillion-La Vista South on Saturday afternoon.