SLAM DUNK SURPRISE
Fifteen basketball players score big with last-minute tickets to cheer on Raptors
Fifteen young basketball fans were shocked to receive last-minute tickets to Raptors’ Game 7 on Sunday,
One minute Konnor Pierson Ward was shooting hoops in the morning sunshine on a Scarborough basketball court.
The next he was standing, dumbfounded, holding a ticket to Game 7 of the Raptors playoff series in his hand.
Konnor, 13, had never been to a game at the Air Canada Centre. And now here he was, two hours before the tipoff, with a surprise seat to the most thrilling basketball duel in years.
“It’s my first time,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’m definitely excited.”
Konnor was one of 15 house league players from the Scarborough Basketball Association who got the unexpected news Sunday morning when they showed up at the court outside McGregor Park Community Centre to play some ball.
The 11 boys and four girls, ages 9 to 14, were winners of a draw held during their house league games on Saturday, which meant they’d get to watch Game 7 on a giant screen, joined by a former Raptors player. Or so they thought. Little did they know, as they raced around playing a pickup game Sunday morning, that more was about to be revealed when Kareem Granger, head convenor of the league, called them into a huddle. Up stepped Landon French of Canadian Tire, brandishing a fistful of magic donated by Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, which provides financial assistance to get kids playing sports.
“I have tickets for everybody,” French told the kids, who reacted with bewildered silence followed by a raucous cheer.
Konnor, sporting a Raptors cap and a grin, was first in line for the yellow school bus that would deliver the kids and five chaperones downtown.
And what a bus ride it was, with “We the North” T-shirts handed out and the kids hollering rounds of “Let’s Go Raptors” as they banged out the rhythm on the walls and seats all the way down the Don Valley Parkway. “When I heard we were going to go watch the game live, I jumped because I was so happy,” said Hezekiah Amador, 9, who started playing basketball this year and was thrilled to be heading to his first Raptors game. Rachel Fitchett said she’s been a Raptors fan and a basketball player “as long as I can remember.” What she couldn’t remember was the last time her favourite team made the playoffs. She was too little. “My motto is ‘never give up, never surrender,’ ” said the petite 12-year- old. A perfect one for the Raptors on this make-it-or-break-it day.
By the time the school bus was inching along the downtown streets near Maple Leaf square, cheers exploding from its windows were earning amused looks from passersby.
The kids emerged, agog, at the throngs of cheering crowds and throbbing music. They made their way in a line through the rowdy masses, clutching foam Raptors claws and gazing up, wide-eyed, at the giant outdoor screen. Before they knew it, they were being whisked around like Hollywood celebrities on the red carpet. Hezekiah responded like a pro to a television microphone that appeared in front of him. Konnor posed for photos between two cheerleaders in white stiletto boots and red minidresses. As for Game 7? It was a three-hour emotional rollercoaster in a crowd that threatened to blow the roof off.
By the game’s heartbreaking end however, Rachel was a little miffed at the referees, though grateful for the day. “The experience was awesome,” she said.