Last week, both the girls’ and boys’ varsity basketball teams held bittersweet ceremonies honoring their twelfth-grade players who are wrapping up their final season on the team before graduating high school.
On Tuesday night, January 31st, the Lady Warriors beat Don Soffer Aventura Charter High School. During halftime, the ceremony was held to honor their seniors: Sophie Lurie, Orelle Elharar, and Orr Atun.
Coach Adam Sargent and Coach Joe Campodonico began the ceremony by sharing sentimental and nice words about each senior player. Once each of the names were called and a speech was given about them, each Lady Warrior collected flowers, a blown-up candid photo of her playing basketball, and a plaque from Coach Joe along with a card signed by the entire team.
The seniors enjoyed the ceremony and felt very happy about it.
“It was very meaningful and I appreciated that my teammates and coaches honored me. I am going to miss basketball and my team very much. I had a great experience,” stated captain Sophie Lurie (12th).
Other non-senior players on the team appreciated the ceremony as well.
“I thought it was really nice to honor the seniors like that and I’m definitely going to miss them. I’ve loved playing with them over the years, and especially during this season,” said Shana Strohli (10th).
Finally, the players posed for photos with their family and the game went on; the Lady Warriors finished with a victory of 57-11.
The next night, on Wednesday, February 1st, the boys’ team held their senior ceremony while facing Jewish Culture High School. Before the game began, Coach Adam Sargent and Coach Harrison Singer also shared touching and heartfelt words about each of their senior players: Daniel Pollack, Jacob Assaraf, Dovie Shapiro, Yudi Waks, Alon Perez, Abe Aminov, and Dovid Budwick.
Each player was called onto the court and met their family members for a photo to capture the special night. Once the ceremony concluded, the game began.
The Hebrew Academy student body showed great school spirit by showing up to the game with all of their energy to both honor the seniors and cheer for the whole team.
“I’m really glad I came for the game; it was a lot of fun. So many students came and showed their support which was really nice,” shared Lily Abrahams (11th).
After a very intense game, the Warriors fell short and were defeated by JCHS.
The entire student body of Hebrew Academy deeply appreciates and is immensely proud of each of our senior basketball stars, and will undoubtedly miss their presence next year and so on!
By: Elizabeth Ebner (11th)