Aerosmith
By Ed Piper, Jr.
The Viking senior active five played the entire first quarter in La Jolla's tilt at home against Patrick Henry Tues., Feb. 14.
Then Coach Paul Baranowski re-employed them, including the seniors who are normally reserves, in the third quarter, and kept some of them on the court into the crucial fourth quarter--a somewhat unusual move in light of the fact the Senior Night game was still decisive in the league title race.
"Yeah, it was pretty emotional," said McClain Thiel, in a rare expression of sentiment for the young man. "It was my first start on varsity."
Then he went into his team-oriented sing-song: "It was a tough game, and we had to fight."
But then Thiel, who sat out basketball last year, revisited his emotional temperature again: "It was nostalgic."
Granted, it came with persistence from a sportswriter. But even Thiel's father, Paul, who was standing nearby, agreed this was a rare expression of feeling from a son who doesn't do it often--if at all.
Thiel, an articulate and likable senior who was willing to stand and answer questions after the Vikings' post-game team meeting in the Big Gym on campus, was told that during warm-ups he looked excited and animated.
"It was an energy boost," he acknowledged about the Senior Night festivities, in which the six seniors (Reed Farley in post-surgery knee bandages) were introduced with their parents on the floor.
The five senior starters' passion was evident in their first-quarter play: earnest, hard-working, pushing things as they dealt with Patrick Henry's capable starting unit. To be fair, the visitors were playing without their starting point guard, Marcus Oliveira, who was ill and on the sidelines.
What really fulfilled the spirit of the night--after all, this was the seniors' last time playing before their home crowd, at least in the regular season--was the fourth quarter "comeback-lette", cutting a deficit of 20 at the start of the period to nine.
It was heartening to see Garrett Brown in waning minutes out there, something he hasn't had the opportunity for much this season. Brown, like Thiel, took his junior year off from basketball, but for different reasons.
Francisco Ramos, the 5'7" guard, also saw lengthy minutes.
Brown, the Viking baseball team's starting catcher since he was a sophomore, scored his most authoritative basket of the season on a drive from the right of the basket against an aggressive defender to make the score 48-30, Patriots leading, to open the fourth quarter.
For Farley, having seen his high school career end two weeks ago with an ACL tear, it was a bittersweet night watching his teammates in a 60-46 loss to Henry. It looks like the Vikes will end in fourth place.
"It hasn't really set in that I won't be playing at that gym anymore," he texted in answer to a reporter's query after the seniors departed while Thiel was being interviewed, "but I know I'll miss it."
"It made me think back to the three sets of seniors that had come before me that I'd played with, and how unique ours was," said the 6'4" point guard, who went to center court on crutches with his parents Kara and Dan in the pregame ceremony.
The sandy-haired four-year starter and third all-time Viking scorer, summed up, "I would say it was still an enjoyable experience despite my not playing."
Then Coach Paul Baranowski re-employed them, including the seniors who are normally reserves, in the third quarter, and kept some of them on the court into the crucial fourth quarter--a somewhat unusual move in light of the fact the Senior Night game was still decisive in the league title race.
"Yeah, it was pretty emotional," said McClain Thiel, in a rare expression of sentiment for the young man. "It was my first start on varsity."
Then he went into his team-oriented sing-song: "It was a tough game, and we had to fight."
But then Thiel, who sat out basketball last year, revisited his emotional temperature again: "It was nostalgic."
Granted, it came with persistence from a sportswriter. But even Thiel's father, Paul, who was standing nearby, agreed this was a rare expression of feeling from a son who doesn't do it often--if at all.
Thiel, an articulate and likable senior who was willing to stand and answer questions after the Vikings' post-game team meeting in the Big Gym on campus, was told that during warm-ups he looked excited and animated.
"It was an energy boost," he acknowledged about the Senior Night festivities, in which the six seniors (Reed Farley in post-surgery knee bandages) were introduced with their parents on the floor.
The five senior starters' passion was evident in their first-quarter play: earnest, hard-working, pushing things as they dealt with Patrick Henry's capable starting unit. To be fair, the visitors were playing without their starting point guard, Marcus Oliveira, who was ill and on the sidelines.
What really fulfilled the spirit of the night--after all, this was the seniors' last time playing before their home crowd, at least in the regular season--was the fourth quarter "comeback-lette", cutting a deficit of 20 at the start of the period to nine.
It was heartening to see Garrett Brown in waning minutes out there, something he hasn't had the opportunity for much this season. Brown, like Thiel, took his junior year off from basketball, but for different reasons.
Francisco Ramos, the 5'7" guard, also saw lengthy minutes.
Brown, the Viking baseball team's starting catcher since he was a sophomore, scored his most authoritative basket of the season on a drive from the right of the basket against an aggressive defender to make the score 48-30, Patriots leading, to open the fourth quarter.
For Farley, having seen his high school career end two weeks ago with an ACL tear, it was a bittersweet night watching his teammates in a 60-46 loss to Henry. It looks like the Vikes will end in fourth place.
"It hasn't really set in that I won't be playing at that gym anymore," he texted in answer to a reporter's query after the seniors departed while Thiel was being interviewed, "but I know I'll miss it."
"It made me think back to the three sets of seniors that had come before me that I'd played with, and how unique ours was," said the 6'4" point guard, who went to center court on crutches with his parents Kara and Dan in the pregame ceremony.
The sandy-haired four-year starter and third all-time Viking scorer, summed up, "I would say it was still an enjoyable experience despite my not playing."
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