Story by Hanna Olson and Austin Arnold
Photos by Anna Shepherd
Midway through the season, the Grant boys basketball team had won six games in a row. But the season changed on Jan. 12 when allegations of hazing erupted at the school. The team played the rest of the season under a cloud of scrutiny that enveloped the entire athletic department.
By the end of the season, the Generals had been bumped out in first round of the state playoffs. Pressure continued to build as team members took it upon themselves to reassure the community that the school’s basketball program was unified. By early April, Head Coach Tony Broadous resigned; his staff was not asked to return.
Now, the Grant athletics department is interviewing for new coaches to step up and rebuild the basketball program.
“We’re looking for someone who knows the game, who is a strong leader and can build a strong relationship between the team and the Grant community,” says Diallo Lewis, a counselor at the school who – along with teacher Matt Kabza – was named co-athletic director.
The season started out promising. Broadous wanted his team to be more like a family. Their bond would have to transcend beyond just the court. As a new pre-game tradition, the team would get down on one knee and Broadous would guide them through a prayer to “whoever [they] believe in”.“Just to ask for luck in our game,” junior Theo Friedman, says, “[We’d] thank the world for our good health, or for a recovery for an injury.”
“I believe it’s important for the kids to build friendships that they will have for the rest of their lives,” Broadous says. Along with his pre-game ritual, he also engaged the team in a reflective activity after each game, in which each player would say what he did well in the game, along with what he could do to improve.
The new-found sense of unity and the creation of a tradition on the team certainly paid off; Grant started the season by defeating opponents Madison, McKay and Oregon City by large margins. It looked as if they would be a strong state title contender.
“We were feeling good especially because of the way we won the games,” Friedman says. “A lot of them were blow-outs.”
This style of play helped Grant in winning their first six games of the season. Their run-and-gun style offense exhausted opponents early in the game, leading to Grant claim easy victories.
One of their best games, according to Broadous, was the tournament the team hosted in honor of Eddie Barnett, Jr.’s death on the basketball court in 2005. Broadous and Barnett’s mother put it together and were pleased with the turn out.
“Everyone played hard and had fun,” Broadous reflects, even though it was only the first tournament. Broadous hopes to make it annual, as other teams were willing to participate again.
The season became tumultous when the hazing incident occurred. In order to help out with the junior varsity team, players Brett Pinkley, Matt Fiskum, and Tay Arigbon stepped up to fill in for the missing players. Broadous’ plan to unify the team helped the Generals through their rough patch.
Then, by their seventh game, the Generals lost a game for the first time that season. Losing by one point to West Linn broke their six-game winning streak.
“(When you start the season off strongly) it’s easy for anyone to stay together like that,” said senior Jeremy Warren. In his experience “It’s when you start losing, you start judging each other.” Broadous asserted that it was crucial to refrain from falling apart in order to come back stronger.
Grant was able to rebound and win their next three games, but then lost to Benson. A pattern was forming for the team, which became even more obvious when the team won its next four games but then lost to Roosevelt. They couldn’t keep a streak.
At the end of the season Grant was looking to come back against Lincoln. They could have won the tie-breaker in getting the district title. But Grant lost by one point.
The loss changed Grant’s focus when it came to the playoffs. Rather than working towards the upcoming game, the team was focused and eager to beat Lincoln.
Canda recalled how the team was so focused on Lincoln in the playoffs that they didn’t talk about South Salem. “I think we just pushed by the game and underestimated South Salem.” said Canda
Grant went into their first-round playoff game, confident they could get the victory. “I knew we had a better track record than them, ” says Warren.
Coming out of halftime, Grant was feeling confident, but South Salem went on a 17-4 scoring run. Luckily, Grant was able to regain a seven point lead with less than two minutes left in the game. Fans in student section stood up and cheered enthusiastically, even booing at “bad calls” made by referees. But two turnovers and some costly fouls put South Salem up by one point.
“We were looking to go to Theo off one of our plays called ‘Double L’. I was going to pass him the ball, but our play got disrupted and I had to get it out of my hands early,” Canda said.
Due to an abrupt change in play, the ball ended up in junior Julian Hanlon-Austin’s hands and he went for a three pointer. The ball hit the back of the rim and bounced out.
South Salem players ran to their bench jumping and yelling while Grant players crouched in tears or kicked chairs in anger. Starting the season so strong and looking to make a deep playoff run, the Generals were knocked out early.
“I didn’t expect to lose. I felt like I let the whole team down, I carried that weight and guilt on me.” Warren says.
The players were crushed, as they came out of the locker room after their final talk with the coach as a team for the season. Most of them had tears streaming down their face with red eyes. Grant as an overall team had gone from being a group of young men playing basketball, to a family whose consideration for one another kept the team together.
“The team this year accomplished a lot of our short term goals, like winning a very high percentage of our games during the regular season,” Battle said.
But as all of the retuning players and coaches know they have a lot to work on if they want to win a state championship which is possible for them.
“I would like to see the team keep working on our defense and take pride in every defensive stop we make,” Canda said.
This is a goal Broadous shares, saying that the team could improve on bettering their defensive tactics, especially late in the game. “It’s really important to keep the other team from shooting.”
Reflecting on the season, Broadous is pleased with the goals the team accomplished.
“I wanted to win the league and state championships,” Broadous said. “But it is also important for the players to be friends. While we fell a little short on winning the championships, we did have a great season and accomplished friendship and having fun.”
Season Stats
Barlow 66-64 W
Clackamas 71-56 W
@ Madison 91-40 W
McKay 83-52 W
Oregon City 90-56 W
Glencoe 85-42 W
West Linn 46-47 L
Milwaukie Acad. of Arts 58-46 W
Southridge 66-57 W
@ Lakeridge 79-61 W
Benson 64-68 L
Reynolds 63-54 W
Centennial 67-63 W
@ Redmond 71-49 W
@ Lincoln 64-63 W
@ Roosevelt 62-70 L
Redmond 72-66 W
Lincoln 68-69 L
@ Jefferson 60-51 W
@ Sheldon 59-55 W
@ Thurston 79-67 W
South Eugene 81-47 W
Lincoln 66-68 W
Playoffs
South Salem 66-67 L
Key losses
Jeremy “JD” Warren
Tre Battle
Chris Wells
Top returners
Theo Friedman (Jr.)
Bryce Canda (Jr.)
Darren “DJ” Kennedy Jr. (Fr.)
Julian Hanlon-Austin (Jr.)
