Senior Send-Off
The Randolph Herald
19 February 2009
Last week was a very big week for the seniors on the Randolph High School basketball teams.
On Feb. 10, the boys played their final home game of the year and two days later, the girls played theirs.
Both nights were extremely emotional, and that emotion showed up in the players’ performances. Each player, senior or not, gave everything they had for all 32 minutes. Everyone played their heart out to make sure that the seniors went out with a victory.
After the game, senior Marvin Auguste reflected on his time as a Blue Devil.
“It’s been really fun, both on the basketball court and on the football field. I just wish we won more games. But I’ve had a really great experience anyway,” he said.
The atmosphere during the boy’s game was electric. The bleachers were packed with students, parents, teachers, and fans — all wanting to see the seniors go out on top. And the boys delivered.
The Blue Devils got off to a slow start and trailed 15-4 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter went in Randolph’s favor – they outscored Pembroke 19-5. The boys eventually went on to win the game led by the performance of senior Crys Jackson and juniors Yemi Ajao and Guerby Despage.
Jackson earned another double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Ajao contributed a strong game with 14 points and seven rebounds. Despage led scoring for the Blue Devils with 19 points, and at one point, connected on three, three-point shots in the span of one minute.
Emotions also ran high at Thursday night’s girls game. There were tears of joy from some members of the team before the game started, and players gave emotional, touching speeches to the four senior members of the team — Tina Mata, Michelle Leung, Ashley Pires, and Cassandra Cardoza.
They fought hard, and led the game 29-26 at halftime, but ultimately could not slow down Pembroke as they went on a 17-0 run to start the second half.
The passion of the night proved too much for Randolph, as they lost their focus and composure in the second half.
Pires fouled out of her final game as a Blue Devil with 1:27 remaining in the third quarter. She left with eleven points and nine rebounds.
The other three seniors also gave strong performances. Mata scored six points with five rebounds and two assists. Leung had 10 points, four rebounds, one assist, as well as handling the strong opposing defense all night. Cardoza also added six points and eleven rebounds.
Ajanni Murrell is a junior at Randolph High School.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/randolph/sports/high_school/x1802686951/Senior-send-off
Ajanni Murrell 