Patrick Ervin
Special to the DD-T
Ten seniors that have helped form the foundation of Greenville High School basketball will be able to tell their grandkids one day that they ended their playing careers with a home court victory. Tuesday night both the Honeybees and Hornets took down their opponents from Holmes County on senior night. And as seniors from other sports received introductions and farewells in the intermission between games, both head basketball coaches reflected on the memories that they’ll have for the class of 2020. Honeybees head coach Dakedreon Lampkin coached Jeanee Anderson, Marlia Alford, Qunitaria McCray, Kylian Granger, Aalyiah Parker, Trinity Lee and Lazedricka Rhodes in their hot pink uniforms as a fitting tribute to a free-spirited bunch. “I’ve been with most of this group since they were in ninth grade,” Lampkin. “They have plenty of experience playing in big time games and against high level competition.”
Hornets head coach Delmar Sprouse will be losing seniors Morgan Green, Antonio Powell and Justin Wright to graduation. This trio will be hard to replace because they possess skills that translate to basketball at any level. “The mark that each of these players will leave on the program in that they were instant offense,” Sprouse reflected. “These were my best shooters when they stepped on the court.” Both coaches lavished praise on their seniors’ character. Lampkin said that this group is one that leads by example and made him adjust his tough coaching style. “I will always remember this group as being very playful and carefree right up until game time,” Lampkin said with a smile. “They seemed to find a way most of the time to get serious enough once the game started. But, it takes a certain type of coaching to know when to get onto a team about that. I couldn’t do that all the time with this team.”
Sprouse touted his seniors mature, gentlemanly behavior and will always remember that, “these three seniors are the least vocal on the team where you would think that they would be outspoken. On the contrary, they lead by example. Sometimes, I feel that they are too respectful on the court.”
Both the team of free-spirits and the strong silent types prepare themselves for district tournament play behind two of the best point guards in local high school hoops. Both Morgan Green and Jeanee Anderson will garner much attention form opposing defenses.
