Pine Bluff Zebras Celebrate with Epic Blowout
An idyllic moment for a deserving team of academic and athletic stars
Zebras know how to party.
In the city of P.B.
2pac hopefully would appreciate this lyrical shift.
Whenever I attend a party that is beyond amazing the song “California Love” zips through my lyrical mind.
That was the case Friday at Pine Bluff High School when I witnessed a jubilant campus celebrating their school’s winning basketball team.
The Pine Bluff Zebras won the 5A state championship, 67-51, on March 9 in Hot Springs against their 5A-South rival Lake Hamilton. It was the first time since 2015 that the Zebras boys basketball team won a state title. Over the decades the Zebras basketball program have earned 14 state championship titles. They tie with Little Rock’s Parkview for fourth in history for the most wins.
The school, members of the community and school associations threw a block party that began with a parade for the players with the Zebras’ marching band, cheerleaders and of course, the players and coaches.
But that wasn’t all. The party featured deejays and a feast of turkey legs, hot dogs, corn and potato salad with smiles and hugs, a high-five for the gargantuan win.
The atmosphere heading into spring break was idyllic. The kind of celebration most schools could only dream of hosting on their campus. As someone told me the whole day was “Happy, happy.”
Sports unites people in good times and bad. That’s certainly the case with the Zebras during the 2022-23 school year.
“The celebration was one of those ‘Good Days’ where the sun was shining brightly and students and teachers were happy,” Ronnieus Thompson, PBHS school principal, said. “The sun smiled on Pine Bluff High School.”
A Win for the City
A feeling bubbled last fall that if the Zebras were going to win a state title that this was the year. The school had the perfect dream team, a cliché but true.
Most of the players had played with each other since they were old enough to dribble a ball in youth leagues across Pine Bluff.
Four of the team’s starters – Zae Barnett, Courtney Crutchfield, Austyn Dendy and Jordon Harris – played football. They transitioned their bodies quickly in training from football to basketball, one of the players told me. Add in Braylen Hall, a junior starter, with his quickness and basketball IQ, and the season was theirs to lose. And they knew it.
The celebration Friday was emotional for the Zebras, who many naysayers discredited throughout the season. But then again, Pine Bluff, my hometown, often doesn’t get the credit it deserves. (Those who know me know I’m kinda exhausted by the constant negativity.)
“I was extremely affected by what happened yesterday,” Harris wrote me on Saturday. “Why? Because the Pine Bluff community cares about what we have accomplished and has made a special effort to express their gratitude. To celebrate us, they prepared food and held a parade! Which was amazing to have.”
For Harris, this championship is a pinnacle he always hoped to reach in basketball, a sport he played for years. After graduation, he will leave Pine Bluff to attend the University of Missouri and playing another sport – football.
But Harris previously told me that the championship was bigger than him (he’s six-foot-six) and bigger than a school win. It was a win for Pine Bluff.
On March 10, Mayor Shirley Washington posted on Facebook, “The Mayor’s office and the City of Pine Bluff congratulate the Pine Bluff High School Boys Basketball team. We applaud the young men and their coach on an incredible season that concluded with being the 5A State Champions. We are #PineBluffProud of you!”
Last week, Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson presented Pine Bluff head boys basketball coach Billy Dixon and assistant coach Lenell Brown with a proclamation for the win. Dixon pointed out that six student-athletes on the championship team has a 4.0 GPA. Almost every other player has at least a 3.0 GPA.
Ryan Watley with Go Forward Pine Bluff said in a text to me that the Zebra team will forever be “difference makers for Pine Bluff.”
Zebra senior Jabbar Spellman said that the day was appreciated and unbelievable.
“Just being recognized by our fellow peers, friends, family and teachers that attended, the parade,” he said. “Would like to thank all of the people who help fund this parade, from the food, music, shirts. Just know we appreciate everything we got. Til this day it still feels so unreal that we won the 5A state championship. People are just so proud of us winning. Like I said before this was a big thing for the city. Go Zebras!”
Laurell Hall, grandmother of Braylen Hall, waved huge fans she made featuring the players faces including Barnett, Harris and her grandson. She told me she made them for the King Cotton Holiday Classic when the Zebras played and then carried them to the state tournament.
Sophomore Deriyon Graydon’s dad, Daryl, owns Lil D’s Barbecue. Daryl Graydon and the Omega Psi Phi helped smoke turkey legs for the occasion. Don’t think it was just the team that got to eat. Students, teachers and all guests did, too.
Lamar Dendy, Austyn Dendy’s brother, and school security Officer Scott deejayed the event while kids danced in the school’s vast green space between buildings. Players’ moms snapped pictures. Hugs were given. No one was left out of the fun.
For a few hours on a windy spring afternoon, the Zebras and their faithful fans and family floated in a beautiful opening scene from a movie about a team of kids with grit, grind, determination and dedication to make it to the top.
