Published: 12:13 AM, Fri Mar 05, 2010
Terry Sanford boys' basketball team seeks redemption
Jordan Vann looked around the gym and soaked in what this boys' basketball season means to the Terry Sanford High School community.
The senior had never witnessed a scene like last Friday's 61-54 victory over Knightdale. The stands had never been so packed. The crowd had never been so loud. The "12th Man," the school's student section, had a middle school contingent for the first time.
There was excitement last year, when the Bulldogs reached the Class 4-A state title game and lost in a runner-up finish. But that season's sectional championship victory wasn't anything like this one.
"That's when we knew how much we had at stake," Vann says. "How many people this season matters to."
For Vann, Michael Stone and Erik Salas, this postseason basketball run is about more than the zero in Terry Sanford's 29-0 record and last year's unfinished business.
To them, this team is playing for two state championship rings: One for the basketball program, the other for a football team that had its season cut short when an ineligible player was found on its roster.
The mistake, which occurred right before the state playoffs, cost the squad its nine wins, a Mid-South Conference championship and a postseason berth.
All three players were members of that football team, and they feel a lot of healing remains to be done at Terry Sanford. Many of the football players, especially the squad's 19 outgoing seniors, say a day doesn't go by without some discussion of their situation.
Some of them mourn the lost season like a lost loved one.
Vann, Stone and Salas admit their play on the basketball court can't give everyone peace about what occurred in November. But they do hope what this team accomplishes - with or without a state title - will move the healing process forward.
"We're not just playing for ourselves, but for our whole community," Salas says.
Hurt feelings
A newspaper clipping hangs from the door of the Terry Sanford weight room. Under a picture of Bulldogs running back Anthony Clanton carrying the ball during a 2009 game, the word "redemption" is written in black marker.
The football players who aren't on the basketball court can't forget when the N.C. High School Athletic Association ruled senior defensive end Malichi Mills ineligible Nov. 9. because of attendance and academic issues.
A temporary injunction allowed the Bulldogs to play in the first round of the playoffs - a 49-28 win over Pine Forest. But the team, which had realistic state championship hopes, was not allowed to take the field again.
"We think about it a lot," says junior linebacker Nick Broussard. "It gives us motivation for next season."
On to basketball
Vann, Stone and Salas didn't have much time to dwell on the premature end to the football season. On Nov. 17, the day the judge made his ruling, they had a basketball game.
"We almost had to forget about football and play basketball," Stone says. "Because if we would've thought about it too long, it would've carried on to basketball."
They've had some reminders as the season progressed. Opposing schools' fans chanted, "Check their grades," or held up signs that read, "No second chances."
These actions did little to slow down the basketball squad, which received support from members of the football team and its coaching staff throughout the season. The Bulldogs beat their opponents by an average of 23.1 points per game, rolling to the Mid-South regular-season and conference championships.
"Whether there is talk out there or not is fine," basketball coach Bill Boyette says. "We're focused on what we need to do, and our kids have done a great job of that all season."
The team isn't forgetting that it must win at least two more games to match last year's basketball squad. Terry Sanford opens regional play against New Hanover (20-7) at 7 tonight at East Carolina University's Minges Coliseum. If the team wins, it will play the winner of the contest between Riverside (25-3) and Millbrook (24-4) on Saturday with a chance to reach the state title game for the second straight year.
A state championship is what this team has wanted since last year's 60-55 title-game loss to Mount Tabor. The three football players on the basketball roster are just happy that this special season will be decided on the court.
"If we win, we win; if we get outmanned, we were outmanned," Vann says. "That's how we feel."
Staff writer Paul Shugar can be reached at shugarp@fayobserver.com or 486-3513.