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Local basketball fans can experience a bit of déjà vu on Saturday when the Bruton High School 2000 AA Championship team returns for a charity tournament.
“It’s surreal that it’s been 20 years,” said Brandon Randall, who played for the team. “It’s an honor that we’ve been a part of something that’s school history.”
In 2000, the Bruton High School boy’s basketball team won the Virginia High School League tournament at Liberty University and has been the only team since at the high school to do so.
“It was such a relief [to win] but it also was years of hard work,” Randall said. “To be able to accomplish that goal with people you’ve worked so hard with and know every team in the state wanted this, it’s an amazing feeling.”
To honor that legacy, nearly all members of the 2000 team will be playing in the “Swishin’ for Seniors” tournament Saturday to support Williamsburg Faith in Action, which provides resources to seniors in the community.
But for Brandon, the event will be more than just remembering a fun time—it will be remembering the last game he played with his father, Edgar Randall, as his coach and his brother, Bryan Randall, by his side.
Brandon, who was a senior at the time, said he recalls standing in a hotel in Lynchburg right before the championship game and holding hands with his brother and father, crying. He said he knew it was the last game he would have with them and it would be something he would remember for the rest of his life.
And after his father’s death in 2019, the memory has become even more important.
“It’s such a vivid memory for me,” he said. “It’s special and not because it’s one of my best sports memories, but it’s one of the best family memories I’ve ever had.”
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More than two decades later, Brandon wants to continue that legacy by playing in the tournament.
There will be two charity games Saturday at Bruton High School.
The first will be the Queens Lake Middle School boys’ team playing against a team formed by Williamsburg Faith in Action; the second will be a reunion game of the 2000 Bruton High School championship team against an alumni team from Lafayette High School.
Brandon said the rivalry will bring back old memories for the two teams because they have a history of being crosstown competitors.
“Bruton [against] Lafayette games were always amazing,” he said. “We really respected them and the fact that you had two really talented teams competing for bragging rights to the best in the city, it just created something exciting.”
As the players reminisce, guests at the event can also participate in a free throw competition
The first game will be at 2 p.m. and the second will be at approximately 4 p.m. Tickets are $5 to attend both games and proceeds will go to Williamsburg Faith in Action.
For more information, visit Williamsburg Faith in Action online.
