The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Broadmoor Bobcats prevail at Viking Village
Broadmoor takes its dominant Bobcats basketball team to Villa Angela-St. Joseph and records a 73-64 win. “A lot of fun,” Broadmoor’s Kaylen Craft said. “We dance, do halftime shows, all kinds of stuff.”
Northeast Ohio’s most beloved basketball team took its show on the road the morning of Feb. 14.
The Broadmoor Bobcats, consisting of a group of students from Lake County Board of Developmental Disabilities/Deepwood, traveled from their usual venue in Mentor to East 185th and Lake Shore to face the seven-time state champion Villa Angela-St. Joseph Vikings.
Despite playing in a different gym, the undefeated Bobcats kept heir winstreak alive with a 73-64 victory.
Fan-favorite Jonathan Hewitt pumped up the crowd during the game, the Bobcats put on an energetic halftime performance then the Bobcats and Vikings shared pizza following the game.
“A lot of fun,” Broadmoor’s Kaylen Craft said. “We dance, do halftime shows, all kinds of stuff.
Added Jeramie Vitale: “I like to shoot the ball in the basket.”
VASJ presented the Bobcats with a trophy after the game and the school’s student body, excused from classes for the event, joined them on the floor for a postgame photo. Matt Herman, the voice of the Bobcats, broadcast the game for the Deepwood YouTube channel from a table set up near the visitor’s bench.
Tip-off against the Bobcats was fewer than nine hours prior to VASJ’s North Coast League matchup at Lake Catholic that evening, but Noah Clarke and his teammates enjoyed the experience almost as much as their visitors.
“Seeing the smile on their faces and how good they felt with the atmosphere and stuff like that,” the junior said, “it felt good.”
The trip to VASJ was the second the Bobcats will take this season.
They traveled to Lake Catholic in January and will head to Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in April.
Sara Jones, who became Broadmoor’s adapted physical education teacher last year following Ann Vespa’s retirement, has quickly learned of Northeast Ohio’s monumental support for the Bobcats.
“In all my 15 years of teaching Adapted PE, never had this kind of community support,” Jones said. “It’s wonderful to see.”
Near the start of a state tournament, and amid a 8-10 season, the morning spent with the Bobcats provided some perspective for coach Babe Kwasniak’s team.
“Sometimes you get so caught up in being entitled,” Kwasniak said, “like what you think you’re supposed to have, and when you’re grateful for what you do have, I think it’s hard to be entitled for what you don’t have. The one thing the Broadmoor kids always give us is happiness.”