WS Chronicle

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY 

THE CHRONICLE

The winter league at the Hanes Hosiery Recreation Center just wrapped up another successful year in the 6-10 age group.  After a stellar undefeated season, the Blue Devils defeated the Deacons in the championship game 26-15.

Jamari Bowman poured in 15 points and controlled the boards, pulling down 11 rebounds to lead the Blue Devils to a big win over the Deacons in the championship game.

Jordan Wells, Emannuel Sugat, Tamarion Plooard, Jordan Vinson, Josiah Sugat and Issac Sugat also contributed to the victory for the Blue Devils.  The Deacons were led by Ryan Johnson with three points and power forward Dominique Foreman with 10 points.

Hanes Hosiery director Art Blevins says this year they had an influx of younger players and he was happy to see the development of the young men.

“This wasn’t one of our strongest leagues this year but it turned out very well,” Belvins said.  “The kids had fun, the tournament was great and the parents really came out to support us, which is a great thing for the kids.  The main thing is that the kids had a lot of fun and got better as the year went along.

“The Blue Devils were good all year, in fact they went undefeated.  They play together and play good team ball.  The Wake Forest Law student coaches did a really good job with them.  The Demons put up a good fight and it was a good championship game but the Blue Devils were just the stronger team,” Belvins said.

Blevins went on to say the recreation center has been connected with Wake Forest University for about 15 years.  He said the students routinely come to the rec center year after year to volunteer.  He says they are a “really big part of the program.”

Blevins presented Jamari Bowman of the Blue Devils and Dominique Foreman of the Deacons with tournament MVP (Most Valuable Player) honors due to their stellar play throughout the tournament.

“Jamari Bowman was the guy that kept everything together for them by rebounding and scoring,” said Blevins.  “For the Deacons, Dominique played well.  He was the leading scorer for the Deacons and carried them throughout the season.”

For Blevins he is happy to have some of the same kids come back and play in the league year after year. He now is coaching children of those who participated in activities in the rec center nearly 30 years ago, so he has seen multiple generations of families at Hanes Hosiery.

He says the league is not about winning but more about learning the game and how the tools they learn on the court can translate to everyday life off of it.

“Just to watch the kids learn from week one all the way to the end makes me really happy,” Blevins said. “A lot of parents put pressure on their kids to win but that’s not what this is about, it’s about having fun and learning fundamentals. We just let the kids be kids.”