Central Catholic senior Angel Gomez Alvarez soaks in first bucket of the season
LAFAYETTE — Central Catholic senior guard Angel Gomez Alvarez checked into the scorer's table and ran onto the court against Faith Christian.
The Knights' student section yelled, cheered and pleaded with coach Drake Barrett to get Alvarez into the game. Alvarez is considered a fan favorite both by his teachers and fellow classmates.
But Alvarez is also rarely used in games because of his height. What Alvarez does is put smiles on people's faces with his attitude and is constantly cracking jokes.
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He's happy, cheerful and has an aura that draws people in. A bench motivator that's constantly firing up starters like forwards Albert Schwartz, Ray Clayton and guards Bobby Metzger, Alex Hardebeck and Mikey Stapleton.
With Central Catholic holding a 69-49 advantage over the Eagles, this was Alvarez's turn to shine.
Alvarez drove left, and across to the right side, before putting up a hook shot — while drawing contact —that kissed softly off the glass and fell through the hoop.
It was Alvarez's first basket of the season and the gym cheered like it was the game-winning bucket.
"I don't get as much opportunities as others but I made the best of it," Alvarez said. "It felt really good and just having the support of the fans."
Alvarez's basket allowed head coach Drake Barrett to sit back and enjoy one of the more innocent moments of the season. Watching a player who has accepted his reserve role and worked hard in practice without questioning his playing time all season.
The score won't be remembered in the coming days. What will be remembered is watching Gomez embrace his teammates and soak the adulation in from classmates that love him no matter what the box score says.
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"It's a big moment for Angel and the rest of the team," Barrett said. "He busts his butt in practice and he's a good kid. We enjoy being around him and the opportunity to get him in the game and get a bucket up, it's always nice to reward someone like that."
GLA Boys Basketball Scores from Feb. 6
Central Catholic 75, Faith Christian 59
McCutcheon 71, Crawfordsville 36
Westfield 73, Harrison 55
Maconaquah 85, Carroll 60
Fountain Central 76, Attica 27
Delphi 69, Clinton Central 68
Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at ehanson@gannett.com, on Twitter at EthanAHansonand Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Central Catholic senior Angel Gomez Alvarez scores first basket