In their final regular-season home game on Friday, the Spartans honor four senior players — Ezra Cunningham, Ben Sieben, Bokii Mullataa and Will Bogdan — alongside managers, LaRon Johnson and James England. The Spartans defeated the Camden High School Patriots, 100-89.
The Spartans opened the game strong with a 9-0 run in the opening minutes. However, the momentum shifted late in the half. With 3:55 remaining in the first half, the Patriots found their rhythm and pulled ahead, fueled by two dunks from Traequan White and Malik Martin that silenced the Spartans’ student section. They headed into halftime with a 37-32 lead over the Spartans.
The Spartans returned in the second half, immediately retaking the lead just 30 seconds in. According to Mullataa, the turnaround was due to specific adjustments discussed during halftime.
“We knew the other team was scoring a lot in transitions and [we weren’t] getting back on defense quick enough to stop them. So, we made that a big thing to make sure we limited their fast break opportunities,” he said.
One of the most exciting plays occurred when Mullataa, assisted by a rebound off the backboard, set up Cunningham for a massive putback basket. The bench and the student section erupted as the Spartans strengthened their defense and held on to their lead over the Patriots until the final buzzer.
Along with the scoreboard showing a victory, what really made the night for Mullataa was the student section and the younger players. In a show of program-wide unity, the varsity team invited junior varsity and C team players to share the bench with them during the celebration.
“It’s not just us as seniors, but the juniors and sophomores on the team as well. I definitely think that everything has been earned for us because we’ve worked so hard,” Mullataa said. “It’s just so amazing that the night ended as the best senior night I’ve experienced.”
The student section also celebrated the managers, chanting, “We want James” and “We want LaRon.”
With the regular season behind them, the Spartans are focused on the section tournament.
“This group of players has really worked so hard this past year to get to where we are today … and in general just putting so much time and effort into getting better every day so we can make this run for [the] section and the state championship, and that’s why I love these guys so much,” Mullataa said.
The Spartans will begin their postseason run at home on Mar. 7 at 12:00 p.m.
