The Final Game
April 13, 2010
Filed under Sports, Top Stories
By: Gabriela Palacios
The Frank Irwin Center in Austin, TX throbbed with the sound of cheering fans, screeching sneakers, and the solid thump of a basketball being dribbled up and down the court. Lakeview was in the lead with only a few minutes left in the game. A victory was in sight and emotions were running high. Bush High School made a comeback in the final minutes of the game and the night ended with Lakeview 58 points and Wagner High School 65 points.
Lakeview’s Varsity Boys Basketball team was the first to go to boys basketball team in all of GISD to make it to state. After much hard work and great games all through the season a loss like this was unexpected.
“The semi-final game was one of our best games of the year,” boys basketball coach Mauldin said. “Our last game was definitely not our best, but that win also had a lot to do with how good the other team was playing.”
Seniors like Sheldon Edell-Blackburn, Chris Copeland, and Ryan Williams, who were star players on the team, won’t be returning next year. The question lingering in many fans’ minds now is “Will they make it that far next year?”
“Of course our goal would be to try and make it to state again but, it takes a lot to make it there,” Mauldin said.
Considering that never before had Lakeview’s basketball team gone this far, there was fans like never before. Lakeview students were even given the opportunity to miss part of a school day to watch and support their team. With fan buses and early releases, hundreds of Lakeview students took advantage of this opportunity.
“Our fans were a huge part of our playoff run,” Mauldin said. “It really takes the players doing their part and the fans helped.”
While some of the players are moving on to college and others are returning next year to hopefully influence the next group of underclassmen, all of the young men from Lakeview’s ’09-’10 Varsity Boys Basketball team will remember this near perfect season.
“We’re still disappointed,” Mauldin admitted. “There is a big difference between winning and coming in 2nd, but we’re not naïve. We know it was still an amazing accomplishment and we will go down in history as the only GISD Boys Basketball team to make it that far and it’s been an adventure.”
All that’s left to do is congratulate the boys on their run and wait for next year’s season to follow the team’s progress again. These boys have left a lasting impression for underclassmen, a proud legacy for Lakeview, and very large shoes to fill for incoming varsity players.
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