The men’s basketball team had its last game of the season against the number one seed in the South Coast Conference, Cerritos College, and lost in one of its most contested games of the season, 81-70.
Ex-basketball player and former EC student Dante Blanson was in the stands for the final game of the season. Blanson was recruited by EC out of state.
Each of the starting five for the Warriors had a unique handshake for Blanson during the lineup announcement as a sign of respect to their friend and former captain.
“It’s mixed emotions for me and it sucks I can’t be there with them,” Blanson said. “(But) they know I’m with them on the court in spirit, they are my brothers.”
In the stands of the game a disgruntled mother was wearing a hat embroidered with the word “RESIGN” on it. The message was towards Uphoff for the season his team had.
The mother declined to give her information, but said that the team has not made playoffs in about five years and thinks that there should be a change at the coaching position.
When asked about the circumstances about Blanson’s departure from EC and the team, both Coach Robert Uphoff and Blanson had no comment.
“It’s difficult for the team and (myself) to see him there on the sideline,” Uphoff said. “They have been through so much together the past two years.”
The team looked determined to win for Blanson as it was diving for each loose ball, chasing every missed shot and played tenacious defense.
Sophomores Dreymon Jones and Darrion Hatfield are two of the closest teammates to Blanson and decided that the tribute for the last game was necessary.
“We made this tribute to show him that we didn’t forget him and to pay homage to our leader,” Jones said. “Unfortunately we couldn’t get the win for him but we left it all on the court.”
Jones finished with 14 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Freshman guard Isiah Armstead led the team in scoring, shooting over 57 percent from the field and finishing with 19 points while adding five rebounds and two steals.
“We came out here and competed with a lot of energy that we didn’t have throughout the season,” Armstead said. “Dante always believed in the next man to step up and we’ve been thankful for him all season.”
The second leading scorer for the Warriors was freshmen forward Da’Koda Lacey with 16 points, eight boards, four blocks and two steals; he knows the season is finished, but plans to carry this momentum over to next year.
“It was all (a) learning process to get ready for my second season,” Lacey said. “We need to build off the aggressiveness and uptempo play of this game.”
This was the final game for Jones, Hatfield and foward Kevin Corona.
Blanson plans to return to EC next semester and transfer to continue his basketball career.
