The Bobcats boys varsity basketball team honored their seniors during halftime of a non-conference game on January 30th. Despite a friendly rivalry amongst two of the players, the Bobcats diligently defeated Tacony Academy Charter Lions.

Senior Dominic DiGiorgio explains the rivalry: “It’s actually with one of my coworkers. We’ve been talking back and forth for the past eight months. And it was a surprise seeing our game getting switched to Tacony on Monday, so it was a pretty fun experience.” 

Gallery • 5 Photos

Dahslee Hernandez

Dominic DiGiorgio forcefully jumps up into the air attempting to shoot over the Tacony Lions during a non-conference home game.

In the first quarter, immediately we see a fast paced game. Even with such a fast paced game the bobcats were able to score 20 points. The Lions put up a fight and put up 13 points this quarter but the Bobcats were still able to take the lead. By the end of the game all the seats were filled and even had people standing over the suspense of the game. 

We quickly reached the second quarter. The Bobcats team relationship is like no other. We see friendship between lowerclassmen and upperclassmen. Every shot made Bobcats all simultaneously yell “Boom.” This team yells this at every game but especially this day because of this game being special for seniors which made the chant all the more motivating. The quarter ended with the score at 41-26.

During half time, coach Gardner makes a speech about each senior on the team. Seniors Dominic DiGiorgio, Josh Brown, Peyton Brame, Ezekiel Williams, and Jude Louineus were honored during this time. Each player would come up to coach Gardner after the speech about them was finished. One by one all the players went up and accepted a flower given to them. Then coach Andre Bright took pictures of players with coach Gardner and then their loved ones.

Cheerleading coach Dana Williams also honored her senior cheerleaders with a speech and flowers as well. Senior cheerleaders Nafera Glover-Bryant, LeNeva Martin, and head captain Taylor Presbery-Fields were honored. 

The third quarter was what really defined the Bobcats lead. The support of teammates, cheerleaders, and audience making noise for the team truly made this game memorable for the team especially the seniors. This quarter ended with 63-39.

In the fourth quarter, there was no anticipation anymore. The Bobcats knew they were going to win. The Bobcats scored 12 more points and ended the game with a total of 75 points. Ending the quarter with a final score of 75-53 the Bobcats had officially beat the Lions. 

By Dominic DiGiorgio shooting a three-pointer in the final quarter he did not only achieve 23 points this game but he also achieved his 500th point throughout his high school basketball career. DiGiorgio states, “it kind of made me tear up a little bit, being the end of my high school career, but it was a fun four years. I enjoyed it with all my other senior teammates, and everybody else on the team.”

At the end of the game, Peyton Brame, one of the seniors honored, says, “ I felt really good going into the game, you know? It’s the [second to] last game of the season. I really wanted to show out. I’m glad again with the win. I’m really happy about the outcome of our senior night. As you know it was going to be our last game so I’m trying to get to play with my bros one more time.”