During an emotional night at the Malibu High gym on Wednesday, four seniors stepped onto the basketball court to play the final regular season game of their high school career.
Sadly, the Malibu Sharks couldn’t pull out a victory against Oak Park, losing 57-45. But for a group of seniors, captain Justin Holmes (forward), Jonathan Baldwin (guard), Anthony Kodomichalos (guard) and Bryan Salcedo (guard), the night meant much more than just a game.
“It didn’t really sink in until right before the ceremony,” Baldwin said.
Malibu gave up a huge lead to Oak Park early in the first quarter and trailed by as much as 15 points during the game. They pulled within 8 points but never quite caught up. Still, the team played hard throughout the game.
“It’s kind of sad we didn’t pull out a win, but we put up a good fight,” Kodomichalos said.
Looking back, Holmes said he loved games where they were expected to lose.
“I loved when we were the underdogs and surprised everyone when we won,” Holmes said.
The Sharks find out Sunday if they make playoffs, but for these four athletes, Feb. 12, 2014 may have closed the book on an era of priceless high school memories.