Captain Ejypt Gibbs sprints down the court. He maneuvers through the opponent’s defense and reaches the hoop. The net swishes. The timer buzzes. Game over.
Varsity boys basketball lost 43-36 to Westside on Friday, Jan. 17.
Despite the loss, head coach Bruce Glover is still proud of his players. Even with only two varsity players playing and the last-minute call for junior varsity to step up and face Westside’s varsity team, Bellaire kept the game close.
“We got a chance to do some soul-searching with the players here; we all made mistakes, they made a few mistakes, these other kids will get better,” Glover said. “We’ll get a diamond in the rough out of this.”
Gibbs also likes to stay focused on the future and believes mistakes are better left in the past.
“I’m thinking: keep moving onto the next play,” Gibbs said. “Once the mistake is made, you can’t go back and change it, so it’s just having that next-play mentality.”
Gibbs’ co-captain, Jaren Brown, has learned how playing basketball translates off the court.
“[Basketball has] made me a disciplined person,” Brown said. “Because of basketball, I keep my grades up. I don’t get into any trouble just because I like playing the game so much. I don’t want anything to affect that.”
Despite the odds, Brown scored 17 points, and Gibbs scored 15 points.
“The future is bright; they played hard, they really did,” Glover said. “For the first game in this atmosphere, on a Friday night against seniors, you couldn’t ask for anything else. They did really well. I’m very proud of them.”
