After their unfortunate loss at the Greater Miami Athletics Conference, the Lady Cavaliers still had something to look forward to: senior night. Although it was inevitably going to be sad as it would be their last home game ever with the current seniors, it was a celebration nonetheless and the underclassmen spent lots of time planning to make it as special as possible.

Even though there were no fans allowed, the underclassmen still decided to decorate the gym in honor of the big day. To start, the bleachers were wrapped with red, white and black streamers. On top of that, there were gold, black and white balloons flooding the stands to make up for the lack of fans. They also hand-crafted a banner that said “Senior Night 2021” to commemorate them.

“Senior night was very emotional to me as I remember how much basketball means to me and how much it has made me grow. Seeing all the effort my teammates made senior night made me extremely happy and thankful to have such an amazing team,“ senior Catherine Pasternac said.

In addition to the decorations, each senior received a variety of gifts. They each got a personalized poster with pictures of their highlights throughout the years, a bouquet of flowers, a sash and a gift bag with lots of goodies and notes from all the underclassmen.

“I have been playing with the other seniors for so long and it was a shock when I realized that this was my last time playing with them on any basketball court ever again. It especially hit me when I got home and read the amazing notes both the coaches and teammates wrote for me. I was like: wow, this is truly the last time I will ever play again,“ senior Madeline Cohen said.

After all the photos, it was finally game time. The game was at the Lady Cavaliers gym against the Coral Reef Barracudas. All the seniors started, since it would be their last home game. They got off to a strong lead within the first quarter with a total of 10-2, with senior Madeline Cohen scoring 6 points alone. They continued to maintain a large lead by halftime leading the game with over 8 points. Once they came back, it was over for the Barracudas, with the team keeping a growing lead all the way to the fourth quarter winning with a total of 40-27. Everyone was ecstatic because the seniors got to leave the court with a massive win.

Afterward, the underclassmen still had a little something special for the seniors. It was a mini party in the locker room with lots of sweets! The girls were showered with chocolate-covered strawberries, cookies and brownies.

“I have known the team for so long, even beyond the four years we played together, and it felt special being able to celebrate one last time together. On top of that, it was amazing to end it with a win,” senior Isabelle Barbery said.

Unfortunately, that is where the 2020-2021 season ends for the Lady Cavaliers. They were unable to participate in districts since the team was forced to quarantine after coming in contact with the Coronavirus. Although they could not finish the season, they were happy they even got the chance to play during these uncertain times.