This upcoming Wednesday January 27, was our boys varsity basketball team's senior night. Our Panthers played against John I. Leonard Langers. Their winning rate is 4-13 meaning the Panthers have a good chance of winning their senior night. Meaning this our last home game celebrating our seniors that are leaving this year. The seniors that are leaving this year are Darriyan Christian, Justen Morgan, Camden Fearon and Shy Berry. During this game they will play their very best while being honored by the support in the stands.
Before the game started Coach Groothius made sure to give the seniors a shoutout and acknowledged all the seniors accomplishments throughout the season and took pictures with the players and their families.
Throughout the game the boys played a good game and kept the score up, during the entire game the Langers were never able to pass them. The boys kept good energy while also scoring points which also brought the Langers energy down. They were able to end the game with a score of 63-44. Everyone on the team was able to get a chance to play during senior night.
Although Camden Fearon was unavailable during interviews he played amazing at the game and put his all into senior night and all of the support that came out to see him was very proud of everything he has accomplished.
Shy Berry also had a few things to say on how they played senior night. He begins by saying, he feels that the team played okay, although they could’ve played better, sharpened up on certain things but other than that it was a great night for all of us as seniors. Shy is signing to Mercer county community college. Although he was unable to play basketball this season he is excited to see the next chapter of his life unfold. He has been playing basketball for approximately 12 years and he continues to play the sport because he loves the addreline and thrill that comes with playing as well as the thrill. He feels extremely supported by his aunt, cousins, close friends, brothers, and parents that came to show support on his senior night.
Next, is Justen Morgan and he played an amazing game with his team on senior night. On senior night he states his team played, “we played a really good game although we could have defended better, overall it was a good night for all the seniors.” Justen Morgan is signing to the University of Saint Francis in Illinois. He is extremely sad that this is his last year playing because he is going to miss all the good people he has been around along with leaving his team behind. He continues to play basketball because of the passion and love he has for the sport and especially because when he gets on the court he feels like there's nothing else that can get in the way of him and the sport he loves.
Lastly, is Darriyan Christian, he was able to play a good game. He starts off by stating how he felt his team played senior night, “we started off slow but we got the momentum with a few early three point shots. The energy was great and we all fed off the energy that was given.“ Darriyan is not signing to any colleges but is hoping to go to trade school. He feels that his last year playing for the team is mixed because he is sad since he won’t be able to experience this again and he is excited to see what the future holds for him and enjoyed every second of it while it lasted. He has been playing basketball for quite some time now, by first starting off into travel and then eventually drew a growing passion for the game.
Overall, Coach Groothius was extremely proud of how the boys played and everything they accomplished this season. He felt as though this was a great way to end the season and is currently awaiting a call to see if the team got into regionals. The boys played a really good game during senior night and although they are sad to see the season come to an end they are happy with all the memories and bonds they created with the team.