After Bus Crash, Griffith H.S. Team Returns To Basketball Court
UPDATED: 9:32 p.m. March 23, 2016
(CBS) -- With scars and sores, the Griffith High School basketball team fought on the court Wednesday in Northwest Indiana.
The team survived a horrible bus crash Saturday and then pulled it together to play in the state semifinals.
CBS 2's Audrina Bigos reports, watching them play, you would never know they were involved in a terrifying crash just days ago.
"Last week when we were upside down in that bus, if you would have told me we were playing even today and then you would have told me we were going to do this, and then all this happened," Griffith head coach Gary Hayes said.
With a little limp, Hayes led his team onto the court, some bumped, bruised and sore.
"God gave us the strength and all the power to get back on the court," said Griffith player Gregory Teamer.
The Griffith basketball team's bus fishtailed Saturday on I-65 and then went into a 360 degree spin and flipped over. Dreams of a semifinal win quickly went away as survival mode kicked in.
Players say they flew through the air, some smashing against windows and into each other. After the bus flipped, some squeezed through broken windows and others crawled out of the emergency exit. The coach airlifted to the hospital.
They came into Wednesday's game hoping to turn tragedy into triumph.
"These boys were really blessed to get back on the road, to come after what they've gone through to play hard," said parent Kim Teamer.
"We didn't expect them to be able to come out and play with such energy and intensity," said parent Octavia Clemons.
But in the final seconds, a tie game turned to a loss.
"Most of us was hurt, sore, couldn't really run that good but we pulled it off and still had a close game," said player Al Ervin.
Ervin said he is proud of the way his team played and so were the fans who gave the players and coach a standing ovation and a roaring applause.
After 47 years of coaching, coach Hayes says these guys have the most heart he's ever seen.
