CLEVELAND, Tenn. — The banner stretched across the outside of the Raider Dome only hints of the heartbreak the Cleveland High School senior basketball players have suffered.
Both the boys’ and girls’ teams are portrayed on the banner, but in the background the labels “ASC24” and “TC54” and the faces of former players Aston Smith-Carter and Tyler Carver serve as a reminder of those lost.
Carver died from injuries sustained in a car accident in the summer of 2008; Smith-Carter was shot and killed reportedly while trying to break up a fight at Mosby Park last July. In addition, teammate Colby Stansberry was killed in a car accident in October 2006, when the seniors were freshmen.
“I think it’s made us realize how lucky we are to still be able to play the game,” said guard Ish Sanders, who is 53 points shy of 2,000 for his career. “Life is short, so we try to go to out and give our all at every practice and every game because, in a way, you don’t know who’s next. We’re just more focused now because those guys were huge assets to the team, so we’ve had to step up our roles to pick up the slack.”
Said Blue Raiders coach Jason McCowan: “Personally it’s tough because you don’t know what direction to go. As a person of faith, it’s made me become a stronger Christian, and I try to lead, guide and direct them. When it came out, I didn’t approach them as a coach, but more like a father figure. It’s such a different role as a coach because there are no manuals that tell you how to deal with those situations.”
The six seniors — Sanders, guards A.J. Frazier, Terrell Parks and Wesley Constant and forwards Marcus Davis and Jamial King — also dealt with a coaching change after their freshman year and the next season had to forfeit 16 games for using an ineligible player. They went from 16-4 and ranked ninth in the state in Class AAA to 0-20.
“It was a very humbling experience,” said Parks, who has a tattoo on his right arm with the words “Rest in Peace Tyler Carver” etched around praying hands. “We had beat teams, but then we have to go and play them again as if we lost, and people saying that we cheated.
“It just left us with more to prove.”
They finished 9-26 with a sectional loss to Murfreesboro Siegel, but their record would have been 25-10.
When asked how to describe his high school career, Davis summed it up in two words: “a journey.”
The seniors have dealt with the adversity by growing closer as a team. They are currently 14-3 and made a cameo appearance in the top 10 poll before a Jan. 16 loss to Knoxville West.
“I was real close with Aston — when he didn’t have a place to stay, he came to my house — so I personally have become more focused and try do everything I can for his family,” Sanders said. “I keep him in my prayers, and every time I go out and play it’s for him.
“As a team, we value life that much more, so the separation that we might have had in middle school is gone and we’re closer than we’ve ever been, and it’s because of them.”
Carver and Smith-Carter will be honored on senior night when the Raiders face Ooltewah on Feb. 5.
“We’re going to honor them as if they’re on this team, because they are still a part of this team,” McCowan said. “The Lord wanted them in a better place, but the kids understand that and we’re going to treat them like they’re still here. It will be emotional, though — very tough.”
Entering high school in 2006, the current seniors had gone through a three-year run with a record of 43-1. They had dreams of winning the state — “One kid told me he had expected to win three state championships,” McCowan said — and feel this might be their best chance yet.
“It would be a big accomplishment to make it to state, but it won’t satisfy us,” Parks said. “I think we have a team that could go all the way.”
Added Sanders: “I couldn’t explain how big it would be (to win state). It would definitely be for Tyler and Aston if we did.”