Westview community rallies around boys' basketball team headed to state championship game

TOPEKA, Ind. -- After losing only one game all season, the Westview High School boys' basketball team now has only one thing left in front of them - a date with destiny at the Class 2A State Title game Saturday. The Warriors got a raucous warmup for Saturday's big game at the pep rally put on by the school Wednesday.

For the first time in 12 years, the Westview Warriors boys' basketball team is heading to the state championship game. With a passionate community behind them, the team says they can’t wait to try and bring a trophy back to Topeka.

You can see the support for the team everywhere you look in Topeka. Fans of the red and white showing strong team pride, and the Warriors have taken notice.

"It makes it even easier to play when there's tons of people that have our back and we know we'll have a bunch of people there and even if you come here on a regular Friday night, this place will be packed so the amount of support we've had for the last two games, even though they've been two plus hours away, it's just been unreal," said Kaden Grau, Senior Guard and Forward.

The Westview Gym was packed to the brim for Wednesday's pep rally as the community's excitement has reached a fever pitch, with the team playing in its first boys' basketball 2A State Title game in 12 years.

"There's a lot of excitement, our guys are excited, we're excited as a staff, it's not too many times you get to coach in a state final, some people maybe never do it so we're very excited that we have that opportunity. We think that we can go and compete hard and give it a good fight," said Chandler Prible, Westview Head Coach.

While a win is obviously the desired outcome for Westview, the players are aware the fans and supporters will be proud of them no matter what. Before the pep rally, the Warriors visited a few local elementary schools, injecting a bit of nostalgia. 

"Having the kids come up to us after games and ask for autographs and pictures, it means the world because at one time, I was that little kid looking up to these guys so to be able to give it back to the community means a lot," said Grau.

If they win, this would be the first championship in boys' basketball for Westview since bringing home back-to-back titles in 1999 and 2000.

"Embrace the moment, you get to be in Gainbridge, which is a huge place. We went down there on Monday, go to walk into the gym, it is massive, so it's just different, it's cool, very few people get to say that they've played there before, so enjoy that moment, play like it's your last because it is for this season," said Prible.

The Warriors will take on Parke Heritage Saturday at 12:45 pm from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.