Coach Gus Anifantis, an eight-year pillar of the JR Basketball program always preached three things about basketball: defense, consistency and teamwork.
On Wednesday night when the varsity basketball team honored Anifantis’s legacy, they upheld his standard; dominating the St. Albans School 81-58, to capture their first win of the season.
“We’re really proud of the work he put into this program and really proud of the kids,” said Eva Anifantis, Coach G’s wife. “We appreciate Athletic Director [Patrice] Arrington and [boys varsity basketball head] coach Tee for their work of putting this night together. We’re really proud to be a part of the Tigers community.”
“The guys represented well for Coach G. He would always be fired up to play the private schools. Being a public school father, he had the opportunity to send his kids to St. Albans or St. John’s, but chose the neighborhood public school,” added boys varsity head coach, David “Tee” Johnson. “We are just trying to continue to embody what he took pride in and continue to push that forward.”
Three nights ago, against St. John’s College High School, the Tigers experienced a low that most great programs do: a game where team standards were not met and resulted in a humbling loss. The Tigers lost by 20 points— the worst loss the team has suffered since 2021. But rather than dwelling about the past, the Tigers looked forward to Wednesday.
Last night, the team showed up and dominated in a similar fashion to last year, and proved why their program is in the conversation for one of the best 25 in the country. Against the Bulldogs, they kept a cushion of 12 to 15 points, fueled by Coach G’s keys to success of defense, consistency and togetherness.
“We showed fight, being determined to win this game and bounce back from Sunday,” said senior guard Pete Newman, who had 15 points, with both six steals and assists. “We wanted to come in and make a statement and show we’re a defensive team. We had a great first half, could’ve picked it up in the second half, but I feel like moving forward that’s going to be our identity.”
Senior forward JJ Massaquoi led all scorers with 30 points and eight rebounds on 11 of 12 shooting. “Coach Tee told me to stay consistent. He also made a comment to me saying ‘I could get 20-plus points a game,’” said Massaquoi. “I just wanted to prove that was doable.”
The Tigers outshot the Bulldogs in field goal percentage and from behind the three points line. In three matchups since 2014, this is the largest deficit the Tigers have beaten the Bulldogs. Furthermore, JR shot 19 percent from three point range on Sunday against the Cadets, but this number jumped to 45 percent against the Bulldogs.
“We had more effort on defense. There was better energy tonight, our three point shots were falling, we can’t be mad at that,” said junior guard Diego Joy.
During the night, Coach G was honored pregame with a dedication dinner and a ceremony. At the dinner, the team, family, and friends joined together in remembrance. During the ceremony, Anifantis’s family were gifted a framed Jackson-Reed basketball jersey with his age as the jersey number, and pictures of him coaching beneath.
“The frame was beautiful, thoughtful, and it will keep his memories of his time in the Tiger’s den alive for us,” said his wife, Eva. “He was a lucky guy to spend his time within this community.”
“It was wonderful bringing our family and community together to celebrate our dad,” said Gabriella Anifantis, Coach G’s eldest of two daughters. “It was really special and we’re incredibly grateful for the JR community to come together emotionally, and put together an event like this and share our dad’s joy.”
“It was only right, that’s the least we could have done for Coach G and his family,” said Johnson. “It feels good to honor this game to him and get this win,” said junior guard Dawit Abraham, who had 14 points. “May he rest in peace and our condolences to his family.”
Up next for the Tigers is the Xavierian Classic at Good Counsel High School in Olney, Md. The Tigers will take on Glenelg Country (Md.), Saturday at 3:10 p.m, with a Sunday game opponent to be announced at a later date.
