HAMLET — The memory and spirit of a former Richmond Senior High School basketball player was kept alive Sunday.
Marking its fourth year, Jalen’s Jamboree was held to remember Jalen David, who passed away in 2020.
At the time of his passing, David was a junior in high school and had been a member of the Raider basketball program since his freshman year.
Held at Hamlet Middle School, a pair of player-alumni basketball games were played while the event raised money for the Jalen A. David Scholarship Foundation.
New this year, two games featuring teams from the Richmond Jammers travel ball program were played ahead of the alumni games.
Each school year, the Jalen A. David Scholarship is given to a Richmond student who has at least a 2.50 grade point average and plans to attend a two or four-year university following graduation.
The recipient of the scholarship will be announced at Richmond’s academic awards banquet later this spring.
Spearheaded by Arthur Gilliam, the school’s dropout prevention coordinator, Jalen’s Jamboree also sold 50-50 raffle tickets to help raise money for the scholarship. The total funds raised this year weren’t available at the time of publication.
“Jalen’s Jamboree is to honor an incredible young man,” Gilliam said in a welcoming statement to the crowd. “Infamous No. 22. He was an amazing young man who loved basketball, who loved his community and who loved his family.
“Today we are honoring him,” he continued. “Everything we raise today will go to the Jalen A. David Scholarship Foundation. All of this goes to an amazing cause to support an amazing young man who impacted his entire community.”
Facing current Raider and Lady Raider basketball players, former members of each program played scrimmages with two 20-minute halves with a running clock.
The women’s game came down to a buzzer-beating shot by Tierra Ellerbe, who hit the game-winning bucket to lift the alumni team to a 39-38 win.
Leading by as many as 14 points in the second half, the alumni team was led in scoring by Whitney Smith and Jardai Tillman. Current senior Jamyia Lindsey helped close the gap in the final two minutes, even giving the Lady Raiders the lead on the possession prior to Ellerbe’s shot.
In the men’s game, it was the alumni team that took control at the start and never relinquished its lead. The alumni players went on to defeat the Raiders 77-68.
Not as dramatic of an ending as the women’s game, the Raider alumni were paced by former players Javian Drake, Jamarion Wall and Josh Calhoun.
Sports editor’s note: An article and photo gallery of the Richmond Jammers games will be published later this week.
