-Finally Defeated but still Victorious

Finally Defeated but still Victorious

By: Tinesha G.

After missing out on a championship for six years in a row, the Kean’s Boys Volleyball team finally decided that enough is enough. They clinched the territorial title on November 12th, 2010.

In the middle of the volleyball season the Kean’s Boys Volleyball team was doing extremely well. On October 24th, 2010 the Kean Boys went home with the championship in the Antilles Tournament. At first the boys were losing 2-0, but that only made them work harder to succeed in their victory. Raheem Malone, captain of the team, said, “At first we were falling behind because we wasn’t paying attention, but I talked to my teammates and said, ‘It’s time to go; we can do this; we did this before, and we can do it again.’” With that said, the boys pulled together for a victory.

Kimo Bonelli, a very strong and inspiring player, received a trophy for being the Most Valuable Player. This was a total shock; he was playing at his best despite the fact that his grandmother had just passed away. Everyone --including his team mates-- thought he was strong. Raheem said, “Kimo was very strong that day, and I think that was the reason why he pushed and did what he had to do today, because he didn’t want to let his grandmother down.”

Kimo wasn’t the only one that received a trophy that day; Xavier Richards and Raheem Malone also received trophies for the All Star Tournament.

Kimo Bonelli, Rakeem Malone, Xavier Richards and Raheem Malone were the quartet in action throughout the season. With Raheem as the setter and Kimo, Xavier and Rakeem spiking, the other teams didn't stand much of a chance to win. Rakeem, Kimo and Xavier were “killing” Central with their spikes. But this doesn’t mean that they were the only good players on the team, Aseah Thomas and Leshawn Andrews also contributed greatly to the team.

In the second set of the game, Coach Alrid Lockhart and Assistant Coach Jennifer Matthias started to get frustrated when the boys started to fall behind because they weren’t listening to the coaches’ directions; however, they pulled through in the third set. Coach Alrid Lockhart’s strategy was to have the setter in the middle front of the net and two hitters by the ten foot line waiting for the set.

Coach Jennifer Matthias said, “At first the team had no motivation, no heart, and no team leadership. They didn't have what it takes to finish-- no team spirit, no passion to win, and no confidence.” But with a little motivation, this team successfully won the game.

Since Sept. 2010, the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School gym has been under construction for repairs. Therefore, the volleyball team was forced to practice at the Bertha C. Boschulte gym. Raheem Malone said, “It would be really nice to have the Kean gym due to transportation because the people on my team live in many different areas on the island.”

But that didn't stop the team from winning; they also won the Central High School Tournament. The captain said, “We played good, but I think we could have done better.” Winning the tournament was a great feeling for the Rays; the game was close, but they managed to bring home the gold.

In this tournament Raheem Malone became MVP and received a trophy. He said, “It feels good to win MVP because it makes you realize that you have been playing your hardest.” The rest of the team received a first place medal.

The Kean Boys went to the final Complex High School Tournament well prepared and with the enthusiasm that they were going to bring home the gold trophy, but their hopes were quickly brought down when they lost their first game in the tournament to Country Day and then to Antilles. Even though they lost in the last tournament, they managed to keep their rank, which was first place.

Kean Boys Volleyball Team with the Gold for the Antilles Tournament