Nick Melero, Mackenzie Murphy & Dorian Carpenter
Fentonian
Fenton HS
1st Place
Division 2, Yearbook
Sports Feature Writing
In game five of the 1992 NBA Finals, Bulls superstar Michael Jordan went down with an ankle injury. Chicago’s worst nightmare came true. However, Jordan’s injury lit a fire under his teammates, and the Bulls pulled out another win against the Portland Trailblazers, securing a 3-2 series lead.
On Jan. 17, starting center junior Ross Ebert went down with an ankle injury as the Tigers were behind 17 points at halftime against the Holly Broncos. Like the Bulls, the boys basketball team called on the same determination and drive as they came back to beat the Broncos.
“Seeing Ross go down killed me,” junior Austin
Bossenberger said. “We have been playing together for years; the chemistry we’ve built is unreal. I knew we had to dig deep and beat Holly for him.”
It required a team effort to come back from behind and beat the Broncos. Fifteen out of the 66 points scored by the Tigers were made by former Bronco, junior Dillon Gardner.
“It felt great to beat Holly,” Gardner said. “The team
welcomed me in immediately after I transferred to Fenton this year. In the beginning of the season, I had to work hard in practice to earn playing time, but the team pushed me and kept me motivated.”
Ebert’s injury gave other players, including 6’8” freshman Nick Wyrick, the opportunity for improvement and playing time.
“I really didn’t expect to make varsity as a freshman,” Wyrick said. “I knew I had to work that much harder to become a better player and ball handler and become a force to reckon with on the court.”
Like Jordan, Ebert couldn’t stand watching his team from the bench. But when the buzzer sounded and the crowd went wild, Bossenberger sprinted over and tackled Ebert, giving him a big bear hug. Even though it wasn’t the NBA Finals, it didn’t matter to the team. This was what the season was all about.