It’s overtime at Central High School’s (CHS) basketball homecoming game, tied, and White Station High School’s (WSHS) point guard Kaden Fraser (11) is on the free throw line. The crowds are roaring, and CHS’ fans are doing their signature chant while stomping on the bleachers as hard as possible, making the entire stadium rattle. Just last year, WSHS was beaten twice by CHS, once by as much as 16 points, and the next game, falling short by just five points. This time, Jaxon was ready for revenge. He crouches, dribbles the ball, then looks up. He shoots, the net swishes and successfully solidifies WSHS’ one- point lead, leaving the score 56-55.
Throughout the game, CHS’ large homecoming crowd used chants and noise to empower their players and distract their opponents. On top of that, their basketball gym is far smaller than the Spartan Palace, making the crowd appear more packed and fearsome.
“The gym got as loud as I’ve ever [heard when] playing in a gym,” David Johnson (12) said. “So, whatever they do good is going to be loud. Whatever you do bad is going to get even louder. So you just[have] to kind of accept that, and then just know what you [are] capable of. It was crazy loud.”
WSHS and CHS’s basketball teams spent most of the game with CHS leading by a few points. However, WSHSn took a few important steps leading them to catch up and tie the game into overtime.
“It was just kind of like a back and forth, just a stagnant of, like, the difference in the score really close up to OT [overtime], and then the winning just came down to us being up by one our point guard, Kaden Fraser, he hit two clutch free throws,” Johnson (12) said. “The gym got as loud as I’ve, like, ever been playing in a gym. It was crazy loud. He was able to hit two plus three throws to close out the game and win it for us.”
The next time the two rivals would face off would be on Jan. 31, which happened to be WSHS’ homecoming. Central’s basketball team took the opportunity to get revenge.
“When they came out hot, I fe[lt] like that took the edge off for sure,” Johnson said. “We were able to, like, lock in the second half and make the comeback. We were down by 10 at halftime, and we were down by like four going into the fourth quarter.”
As the game came to a close, it became evident to WSHS’ team that they would need to come in clutch to win:important players stepped up to win the game.
“Jackson, our big man, made some good defensive plays and dunks,” Aldric Bounds (12) said. “I feel like those were, like the two key factors winning both games as far as their scoring goes. And then, you know, you got other players, like Trey, he’ll come in, hit a few threes. Tony will get to his spot Kaden, he’s the facilitator of the team. So you know, he gonna pass and get people open overall.”
When the buzzer rang and WSHS’ homecoming win was solidified, fans stormed the court, including Charlie Russell (10), who had taken photos of every single basketball game of the season.
“Yeah, security tried to hold me back but I was just too excited,” Russell said. “The game was great. I’m ready for the playoffs now.”
