The second annual Savannah High/Beach Alumni basketball game was all about camaraderie and fun Saturday at Savannah High — that is until the final two minutes of the Old School men’s game.
Savannah High tied it up with about four minutes left and then padded its lead to five points with 2:30 remaining, but Markecis Wall of Beach started to heat up from distance — making two clutch 3-pointers in the final seconds to bring Beach within two points. Wall, who was the Savannah Morning News player of the year in 2003, had one last chance at the buzzer, but his 30-footer from the left wing rattled in and out of the hoop as Savannah held on for a 43-41 win.
After the final buzzer sounded, the Bulldogs and Blue Jackets shook hands and embraced, appreciating the way basketball brings the community together.
“We came out to have a good time, but we try to come out and play hard,” said Wall, who was named the Bulldog MVP for the Old School game. “I felt it on that last shot — I thought it was going in. It felt like 2003 again.”
For Savannah High’s Gregg Ewaldsen, it felt like 1973 again. Ewaldsen, 57, is the father of Savannah Christian’s rising senior, Chandler Ewaldsen, who won the Hollis Stacy Award this year. He showed off a solid all-around game — knocking down several shots with his smooth jumper, while showing the inside game that earned him a basketball scholarship to Georgia back in the day.
Ewaldsen plays regularly, and his game has a certain old-school quality. But his brand new neon green Nikes showed that Ewaldsen is still young at heart.
“My son Andrew (14) picked these out,” Ewaldsen said with a laugh after receiving MVP honors for the Blue Jackets. “Things got a little interesting in the last couple minutes. They started to try to get me the ball in the block like in the old days, and it worked a time or two. It was a lot of fun, I practiced the last few weeks to get ready for the game and I got to play a little more this year.”
Ewaldsen and Marvin Lloyd (Savannah High Class of 1972) were the two oldest players on the court. Lloyd started and made a strong move to the hoop early — drawing a foul and converting one of two. He later tweaked his leg and missed the rest of the game.
“I wish I had a couple 6-foot-6 or 6-foot-7 guys like that on my team,” Savannah High coach Tim Jordan said. “And they showed they can still play. It was like an NBA All-Star game out there, where everything gets serious in the last few minutes. And you know it’s going to be that way in an old school Savannah High/Beach game.
“But the important thing is we raised money for both of our athletic programs. This event is like a family/high school reunion and we’re looking forward to having it for years to come.”
The younger men’s game, featuring players who graduated after 2000, had plenty of fireworks. Beach trailed by seven at the half, but Markeith Cummings, who recently graduated as the all-time leading scorer at Kennesaw State, took over in the second half scoring 19 of his game-high 26 points. He had five 3-pointers and four dunks in the game as he went head-to-head with James Sinclair, the Savannah High graduate who is a rising junior at Western Carolina.
Sinclair played well — scoring 15 points — and he was named the MVP for the Blue Jackets. But Cummings, the MVP for Beach, wouldn’t be denied late in the game.
“He’s got a slight height advantage on me,” Sinclair said with a smile afterward. “But it’s a game of runs, and he had a great run to end it. This was a fun experience being back in the gym where I made a name for myself. If my knees hold out, I’ll keep on playing in this into my 50s.”
Cummings, who is leaving to play professionally in the Philippines later this week, won the dunk contest after the game, beating out Sinclair in the finals.
“I’m just happy to come out and give a little back to the city I grew up in,” Cummings said.
In the women’s game, Beach beat the Blue Jackets 37-24 as Adosha Kelley from the class of 2000 earned MVP honors. The former Armstrong Atlantic player scored eight points and showed off a versatile game.
Savannah High’s MVP was Sonia Heyward, who knocked down three 3-pointers among her 12 points.
“It was like being in high school again,” Kelley said. “I hadn’t seen people like (Beach teammate) Brandi Williams since we graduated, and we had a lot of fun.”
Next year’s games will be played at Beach’s new gym.
“This is a great event — there was no animosity in that gym, just love,” said Enos Garvin from Savannah High’s class of 1985. “We need to spread events like this out to other schools. It would be a community outreach and be great for our city.”