Wasson raises memories in boys' hoops regular-season finale

Matt Thompson, class of 2004, showed off the 5A 2004 regionals champion plaque with his name on it. Steve Bustamante, class of 1990, put the word out through Facebook. DJ Hanes, class of 2013, scored 22 points.

And Abi Young won’t graduate from Wasson, but he, like the other three, will forever be a part of Wasson history.

Thompson and Bustamante joined several hundred others (one estimate had it at 800) to watch Hanes and Young play in the Wasson boys’ basketball team’s final regular-season home game Tuesday.

They weren’t disappointed, as the Thunderbirds beat Harrison 58-35 to improve to 19-1 in their final season before the school shuts down this summer.

Click here to see a photo gallery from the game

For some, the game was secondary.

“I wasn’t really even paying attention to the game,” said Bustamante, owner of Sanchos Mexican Grub and one-time school badminton champ with Jake Reid. “Just kind of reminiscing, checking out where we used to hang out with our old girlfriends on the bleachers.”

For others, it was a chance to look back on old accomplishments as a T-Bird.

“Just trying to relive the days,” said Thompson, a 5A state runner-up in the 4x100 relay before becoming a coach at the school. “It was kind of a blast from the past. But we’ll never see it again.”

Hanes and Young got to perform before the hundreds of alumni who filled one side of the gym reserved for them and packed the parking lot so full, cars spilled on to Afton Way.

“There was a lot of adrenaline in this game, a lot of excitement,” said Hanes, who will play football for Northern Colorado in the fall.

And for some, the future will take care of itself when the time is right. But Tuesday night, the time was about Wasson.

“It’s our last year, all of us together,” Young said. “The school, us, everyone at the school, is a family. And we’re just going to go out with a bang this year. We’re just going to worry about this year.”

Read about Wasson's victory over Harrison

From this year on, Bustamante is going to miss it.

“Even though the school actually still stands here, all the memories and stuff,” Bustamante said, “Wasson is going to be gone.”