Texas high school basketball team shows amazing sportsmanship

theGRIO REPORT - At Gainesville's juvenile correction facility for felony offenders, one reward for "good behavior" is the chance to play basketball and leave the facility for games against private schools...

TheGrio Staff

Feb 28, 2015

At Gainesville’s juvenile correction facility for felony offenders, one reward for “good behavior” is the chance to play basketball and leave the facility for games against private schools. But with their schoolmates back in the prison, there aren’t very many people left to cheer for the team.

“My parents came to one game but they didn’t come to the other ones because they didn’t have time,” said one Gainesville player.

Two students at Vanguard College Prep in Waco, Texas, Hudson Bradley and Ben Martinson, decided that they would not play against a team with no fans because, according to Bradley, it “doesn’t seem right.”

So the two players asked their fans a favor. According to CBS, they assigned half the crowd to cheer for Gainesville and the other half to cheer for Vanguard. Gainesville was even given their own student section and cheerleaders.

However, as the game went on, something about the crowd changed, and everyone in the gym began to cheer for Gainesville, regardless of their original assignment.

“I mean every time they scored the gym was just lit up with cheering and clapping and everyone was on their feet,” said Bradley. “I think in a way this is kind of how sports should be. It just kind of showed me the real impact that encouragement and support for anybody can make.”

The impact on the Gainesville players was unforgettable.

“When I’m an old man I’ll still be thinking about this,” said one Gainesville player.