Morgan Gibson, Staff Writer
February 9, 2024
On Sunday, January 14, 2024, the Nobles Girls Varsity Basketball team (NGVBB) had the amazing opportunity to play a game against Dexter Southfield at TD Garden in Boston. Well known for being the home of the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins, TD Garden is recognizable by those in Massachusetts and nationwide. But you may be asking yourself, how did the Girls’ Basketball team make its way into playing at TD Garden?
It all started with the “She’s Got Game” Basketball Tournament. Games for the tournament/showcase took place at Nobles and Dexter Southfield on Saturday, with some teams being fortunate enough to play at the Garden the next day. The tournament was in support of the Andrew James Lawson Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that honors the memory of Andrew Lawson, a 27-year-old man with Down Syndrome who grew up in Norwell, Massachusetts, and passed away after a 2-year battle with cancer. “Steve Gibbs, the owner of Hoop Mountain Basketball, took it on to put together this day to raise money for the Andrew Lawson Fund,” said NGVBB Head Coach and Athletic Director Alex Gallagher (N ‘90). Every year, different high school basketball teams are invited to compete. The last time that Nobles was invited was in 2015. Following the girls’ win over Dexter in the Double-A Championship game last spring, Steve Gibbs reached out asking if they would want to play a rematch against Dexter as a part of the Andrew Lawson Day. Gallagher said, “[Nobles] jumped at the chance because it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the kids and a real honor to be a part of it.”
Going into the tournament facing an opponent as formidable as Dexter in an unfamiliar environment with a larger court size, Gallagher said, “You just try to treat it like a normal game even though it’s not…From a coaching point of view, you’re doing everything you can to block all of that out and just remind people to just a game played between lines, you know, you just got to play with those lines.”
The three pillars of the NGVBB program are love, serve, and care, and the team sought to uphold those pillars on and off the court during the game. NGVBB Player Gabi Thompson (Class III) said the team’s focus’ going into the game was “just taking away their threes and just executing and playing how we play.” Captain of the team, Tahira Muhammad, said, “They’re a physically strong team and have high IQ. They also have a great point guard.” Adding on to Thompson, Muhammad said that the team was mostly focused on “not letting the environment take over and overwhelm us and just playing the basketball that we always play, and doing the things that we do well.”
To make tickets more accessible for all students, the school covered the cost so that Nobles students could view the game for free. It’s safe to say that this method of incentivization worked. Going into the game, there was a large showing of Nobles students sporting the blackout theme in support of the team. The fan section was absolutely electric and Addy Dean (Class I) leader of Dawg Pound said,
“It was really nice to see everyone show up and support such a dominant team.” Many members of the Nobles Boys Varsity Basketball (NBVBB) team were also in attendance at the game. NBVBB Player Sean Taylor, said, “We all agreed as a team that we would go to support because they always show up and cheer for us.”
The game started off very even, with both Dexter and Nobles trading points, and Dexter led Nobles 17-13 after the first quarter. As NGVBB started to get in their rhythm in the second quarter, they went into halftime leading 35-29. NGVBB Player Brynn Bryant (Class III) said, “In the 1st half, we struggled to gain our bearings and rhythm, but during halftime, Coach Gallagher came to us and said, ‘We know we can compete with this team, and we know we can win, they’re the ones who don’t think that they can. We just have to play our game, it’s just a court it’s just a basketball game.’” In the third quarter, the team did just that. The girls came together and began to pull away, ending the third quarter 57-47 and finished strong in the 4th quarter to win 76-64 Nobles.
After the game, NGVBB Player Jasmyn Cooper (Class II) spoke about what the experience meant to her and the team. “Playing at TD was a surreal experience. To play on a big stage with my team was one of those moments that just stick with you for the rest of your life. We fought hard and when we were faced with some adversity, Nobles’ crowd really showed up and brought the energy we needed in that tough time. Our team truly appreciates those who showed up and gave us a little extra push to get a great win for the school,” Cooper said.
(Photo Credit: Ben Heider)
