They’re on the road now, and in less than three hours, the Metro League champion West Seattle High School girls’ basketball team will be on the court at the Tacoma Dome, one of eight teams vying for the state 3A championship. They boarded their bus after a loud-and-proud pep-assembly sendoff in the school gym about an hour ago. Head coach Sonya Elliott recalled the excitement of the postseason win against two-time state champ Cleveland, and the thrill of someone remarking it was great to see students up on their feet raucously cheering a girls’ basketball game:

The coach declared they were off to “take care of business at the Tacoma Dome,” with an aside to her players: “Let’s go, ladies!” Emceeing the assembly, athletic director Trevor Leopold declared this to be a great day in WSHS history. The cheer squad offered a few cheering lessons, and the band preceded everything with the fight song:

And before the rally, WSHS principal Ruth Medsker showed off the commemorative T-shirt:

While she can’t play because of an injury that cut her season short, senior Gabby Sarver rolled into the rally, accompanied by teammates Emily Fiso and Lexi Ioane.

And senior Charli Elliott took the mike to say she is “so proud of her teammates,” recalling that they won just three games her first year – and now, here they are going to state:

We’ll be updating from Tacoma during the game, which also will be webcast live by the Sound Live Sports Network (which regularly webcasts Lynnwood games).

One more reminder: Even if you won’t be there to cheer for them today, you can give the girls an assist via a donation through the West Seattle Booster Club to help them cover the costs of going to the tournament – because of the game scheduling, they have to stay overnight in Tacoma, and that means hotel and food costs, among other things – here’s where to donate (be sure to specify that it’s for “girls’ basketball”). They thank everyone who’s given so far!