RallyNorth.net

A Senior Night to remember

Friday, February, 22 By Matt Langone
Sports editor

If I could have last Thursday night back, I would make sure that I was sitting in the stands inside the Smith Field House at Gloucester High School around 8:30 p.m.

Eight days ago, in that aforementioned location, arguably the most emotional and inspirational moment of the Cape Ann winter sports season took place.

Fortunately for me, I have heard all about the moment, in great detail, from several people. Gloucester High School assistant principal Bill Goodwin is among those people, and his letter to me helped me understand the magnitude of what exactly went down on Gloucester High School boys basketball Senior Night. A night that will forever belong to Danny Williamson.

Williamson, a senior at GHS, has been with the boys basketball program throughout his high school career, serving as team manager. His customary gameday attire: dress shirt, necktie and pants. His customary game day duty: encourage teammates.

Williamson's story is well-known around Gloucester. He is a special needs student, but takes a normal schedule of classes. He has a deep passion for hoops and practices his jump shot on a daily basis, particularly from 3-point land. Until last Thursday, Williamson never had the opportunity to launch one of his patented jumpers in a game. But the stage was set for the possibility of Williamson's first career bucket when Gloucester head coach Todd Simendinger made the decision to have the senior fan favorite dress in a Fishermen uniform for the first time in his career.

After that, Williamson's teammate's did their part.

With rival Danvers as the opponent, the Fishermen forgot about their disappointing record of 2-17 coming into the game and played like a team on a mission.

Led by Brian Levie's outside shooting (seven 3-pointers, 21 points) and Bryan Chianciola's 18 points, Gloucester broke the game open and held a large lead with around two minutes remaining.

Knowing that time was running out on Williamson's career, Simendinger allowed the team's emotional leader to check-in. Upon entering the court, Williamson was greeted with a tremendously loud ovation from the Gloucester faithful.

On each Gloucester possession in the final 1:30, Fishermen players fed the ball to Williamson. However, he couldn't convert from his home-away-from-home | the 3-point line.

Knowing that his jumper was off that night, Williamson cut to the basket and was hit with a pass from junior Dylan Maki. Williamson made the most of his opportunity and layed the ball in with 30 seconds left on the clock.

Much like his daily walks through the Gloucester High School hallways, Williamson was high-fived from all of the players on the court and was also showered with loud cheers from the crowd.

There was no state championship won that night at the Smith Field House, but you would have thought otherwise. After the game, fans rushed the court to congratulate Williamson for closing out his high school basketball career in style, with two points in a 76-58 rout of his team's archrival. Not too shabby.

I want to thank Bill Goodwin for bringing the specific details of this great night to my attention. It certainly sounds like one of those rare moments in high school sports that you don't want to miss. Unfortunately, I did.