Service with a smile, as ROTC sets the stage at Waukegan
The plastic badge pinned on her Waukegan High J. ROTC coat read "Garcia."
That's 1st Sgt. Garcia, mind you.
Following the Waukegan boys basketball team's 72-54 win over Schaumburg in Friday night's Class 4A Waukegan sectional final, Garcia enjoyed the home team's celebration on the court with her fellow Waukegan High J. ROTC Bulldog Regiment members.
She pointed to the three up, three down stripes on her shoulder, and it was hard to tell which made her more proud: her rank, or the picture she had just had taken of her standing with Waukegan star Jereme Richmond.
What a picture.
Richmond stands 6 feet 7.
Garcia checks in at 5 feet. Which put the top of her head at around Richmond's stomach.
Her smile was infectious.
Richmond smiled too. He had also stood tall on the court during the game, posting 16 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks.
The ROTC kids play a role in the terrific ambience and energy at Waukegan's old gym. During the national anthem, with the lights dimmed, they march onto the court and slowly raise a large American flag at center court.
Springs timeWaukegan senior guard Mike Springs and sophomore guard Akeem Springs are not brothers."He's my cousin," Mike Springs said. "But everybody else, they're our brothers."The Springs sprang a victory against Schaumburg.Mike had 15 points, 4 steals and 1 block. Akeem scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.Lucky 13Players got hurt. Players quit the team. Players squabbled among each other. Losses mounted.So maybe that No. 13 seed seemed appropriate.Funny enough, it proved lucky for Schaumburg.The Saxons' postseason story is what makes the state tournament so captivating.Their road to the Waukegan sectional final against the state's top team, Waukegan, featured a four-game winning streak that included the ousting of third-seeded Fremd on its home court and No. 2 Deerfield.A team became, in the truest sense, a team.Even with the Saxons trailing by double digits the entire second half Friday night en route to their 72-54 loss, they never stopped trying to cut into their deficit. They had a 5-point run in the third quarter and ran off six straight points early in the fourth."Schaumburg basketball is about never giving up and playing your hardest," said senior guard Declan Geraghty, who had 14 points and 6 rebounds in his final game. "We were struggling to find ourselves in the beginning of the season and during the middle of the season through all the suspensions and (players) quitting. I think we found our character as a team."The Saxons left Waukegan's gym with heads held high."We have so much to be proud of," coach Matt Walsh said. "We didn't get the outcome that we wanted, and it stings a little bit, but we've created a lot of memories that these players are going to be proud of. They're memories that they're going to have the rest of their lives. They've earned them."'O' ... so deepWaukegan is so deep offensively that the Bulldogs didn't even seem to miss senior guard Aaron Johnson, who picked up his fifth personal foul (on a technical, no less) less than a minute into the fourth quarter against Schaumburg.A 13-point-per-game scorer, Johnson was in foul trouble most of the night. He scored just 1 point. Waukegan, however, received ample offense from Akeem Springs (17 points), Jereme Richmond (16), Mike Springs (15) and Quan Connor (12)."They play five or six guys and every one of those guys is a threat to put the ball in the hole," Schaumburg senior Declan Geraghty said. "You can't just concentrate on one guy. They're a hard team to defend, to say the least. They have so many weapons."jaguilar@dailyherald.comTrue1200803Friday night during the national anthem Waukegan High J. ROTC Bulldog Regiment members march onto the court and slowly raise a large American flag at center court before the Class 4A Waukegan sectional final game.George LeClaire | Staff PhotographerTrue