Rushing to get their pre-game meals in, Marcus Crawford (12), Matthew Shi (12) and Morgan Williams (11) prepare for the upcoming battle. All eyes are on the team. It’s homecoming.

Facing a previous defeat from Central High, the boys’ and girls’ teams came into the game gunning for a revenge victory.

“It was my last homecoming game, I’m in 12th grade,” Crawford said. “They beat us last time at their home, so we had to win.”

With the bleachers filled, players became amped. Each player stuck to their role in the team, played hard and played for each other. Following the second and third quarters, players became more aggressive, shooting more and more. Although the boys’ team faced a tight game, they took the victory against Central with the final score of 50-41, the first homecoming win in three years.

“Just playing for your teammates, doing the things a lot of people don’t want to do, like just simply playing hard [helped us win],” Shi said. “I really liked [the game], because we haven’t won a homecoming since my freshman year, so it was kind of relieving to get a win.”

After the victory, exhilaration filled the gym and students. Families and the team celebrated the boys’ strong ending. 

“I really liked how the crowd stormed the court after we won, and it was a really fun moment,” Shi said.

The girls’ team went into their game an hour before just as passionately, playing hard for their victory too. Getting more steals and scoring more in the second half gave the girls a huge advantage.

“We just started to amp up our energy more in the third quarter when we needed to,” Williams said. “[Demi Gentry (12)] started to score more and everyone on the bench was getting hyped and that made everyone on the court … want to get to the ball and score more.”

Using their teamwork, the girls were able to close out the game. The girls exhibited great cohesion with each other, continuing their almost flawless record of last year’s season.

“Overall, us being able to work together [was the most important],” Williams said. “Us having community, that connection with each other and just being able to almost read each other’s minds, know where we were supposed to be at all times.”

Stormy conditions were ahead, however. Not only did the boys’ team have to play the homecoming game, but the subsequent day they had to play against the Blytheville Arkansas team. The Blytheville team was undefeated in their region. Nevertheless, the boys pressed on unfazed.

“It was very different because it seemed like the entire gym was against us because their crowd was very into it,” Shi said. “They were a very good team.”

Despite facing adversity, the Spartans secured the win with a final score of 62-59.

“It’s White Station, no one’s expecting us to beat that type of team, but they were undefeated and we beat them in their own home,” Crawford said. “It was really crazy, their fans were talking about us. Anything we did, we were getting mocked the whole game.”