Residents of Calhoun and Gordon County came out to celebrate the history of Stephens High School, a school that fought through the adversity of segregation, by hosting a basketball game in honor of the alumni.

The annual Calhoun-Gordon County Basketball Classic was held on Saturday, March 16 at the Calhoun Recreation Department, and a few alumni from Stephens High School were in attendance to be recognized.

“It’s always good to come back home. It’s good to never forget your roots,” said R.D. Wilkey, one of the alumni of Stephens High School in attendance. He played on Stephens High School basketball team coined the Mighty Green Hornets back in the 60’s.

There were two basketball games played at the basketball classic. One was a boy’s basketball game and the other a men’s. During halftime of the men’s game the alumni of Stephens High School were honored and took a minute to share a few words.

While Wilkey was talking he shared a saying that his old principle Dr. Betty Smith would tell the students, “What you do speaks so loud that I can’t hear what you say.” Wilkey encouraged everyone to be a good person every day, even through adverse times.

He also said if Dr. Smith were here today she would encourage everybody to finish school, regardless of were you go. She wanted to make sure everyone got your education.

The boy’s basketball game was divided into two teams, the red team and the black team. The red team came out victorious with a victory of 52 to 41.

“We came, we saw and we conquered,” said Corey Dixon, one of the players for the red team.

“It was great to be able to coach these kids in a Black History game. This was the first one I got to coach and I got a victory,” said the coach of the red team Tyre Hawkins. He added, “It was sweet.”

The men’s game was between a team from Calhoun and a team from Atlanta. The Calhoun team came out on top winning the game 97 to 83.

The voice of the game was was Tiny Foster of The Mighty Saints Gospel Group. The sponsors for the event were Defoor’s Body Shop and Towing, Calhoun Drug Company, Eddie Peterson, ABC Store, Yellow Jacket Drive In, God’s Redeeming Love Church, Phillip Towing and Recovery, First Corinth Christian Church, Folk Restaurant and Allen Chapel A.M.E.