The banner with Marcos Gonzales’ picture hung from the balcony rails.
The commemorative basketball with the inscription given to him will look great in his college dorm room next year.
The pregame ceremony was quick and the accompanying standing ovation was loud.
On Feb. 7, the 6-foot-4 Brother Rice senior guard played his first game in his home gym since becoming the 10th player in Crusaders history to reach 1,000 career points three nights earlier in a win at Marmion.
“Obviously, it means a lot to me,” said Gonzales, a Citadel recruit. “There have been a lot of great players who’ve reached that goal at our school and it’s a personal accomplishment, but I couldn’t have done it without everyone else.
“My teammates trust me to lead the team and that’s what I came here to do. I feel that embodies my personality. I’m good with people and my teammates are standing right there next to me and not behind me. They’re also leading with me.
“The ceremony was cool and a special moment for me to have gone here. I was able to look into the crowd when I was getting the standing ovation. That’s something I’ll always remember.”
Gonzales and Jack Weigus each scored 12 points as Brother Rice rolled to a 58-32 Catholic League Blue victory over St. Rita.
Gonzales scored eight of his points in the first quarter and didn’t play in the fourth.
He is a three-year varsity performer and two-year varsity starter for Brother Rice.
“Marcos is all the way around a great teammate and a great, great leader,” Crusaders coach Conte Stamas said. “He’s not a rah-rah type of guy. He takes guys aside and talks to them.
“He’s a great kid and a great student. He has really good ball skills, he can go off the dribble, he’s elusive and he has great handles. He sees the floor more than he has in the past and that has expanded his game more, too.”
Also reaching double figures for Brother Rice (23-3, 6-1) was Max Justic, who finished with 10.
With 3:08 to play in the second quarter, the Mustangs (4-21, 0-7) drew to within 29-14 as senior guard Devin Horace went on a personal 7-0 run that was capped by a 3-pointer from the left wing. Horace led all scorers with 14 points.
“It means the world for not only (Horace’s) personal growth, but he’s stuck with it and he leads his group,” St. Rita coach Ross Burt said. “You see what is his approach and that has grown and he’s come along so well.
“He’ll take his maturity and his growth with him and go (on) to do some amazing things in his future.”
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