Jones Senior alumni reflect on The Matchbox
Photo credit Linda Whittington / Neuse News
By Junious Smith III
TRENTON — Come for the games, stay for the memories.
Friday night had a nostalgic feel to it, as a series of alumni basketball games were played in Jones Senior’s old gym. Hundreds came out to “The Matchbox” to fellowship with friends, former teammates, coaches and residents in one final event before the preparations for demolition.
Among the throng was the man who brought Jones Senior its first win, Edward Meadows. During the 1969-70 season, the Trojans started 0-3 and the coach had to leave due to an emergency, leaving Meadows — a high school senior at the time — to take over on the court and sidelines.
“That night was so crazy because we won here and the guys picked me up and carried me to the locker room,” Meadows said with a laugh. “Back in the day, basketball and football were important here and The Matchbox was a tough place to play. We didn’t have the biggest team, but we didn’t back down against the big boys.”
Most of the players in the county learned from long-time coach Franklin Duffin, who coached for 30 years at Jones County Middle and High. For Duffin, he said seeing so many of his former players meant the world to him.
“For them to come back after all these years, it speaks about how much this place means to them,” Duffin said. “It’s still special and it didn’t feel like just basketball — this was a family reunion.”
Court Harper, who played for the Trojans from 2002-06, said he grew up in the environment and loved it.
“My dad used to work at the school, so I would get dropped off here and went to all of the practices growing up,” Harper said. “It was always great seeing the junior varsity and varsity players and it meant a lot having the opportunity to play.”
Photo credit Linda Whittington / Neuse News
Thomas Fryar played for the Trojans from 2006-10 and was a star in numerous sports, becoming a state champion in the 200-meter dash, an all-state receiver in football and conference player of the year in basketball. Fryar said some of his best memories occurred in The Matchbox.
“This is where it all started,” Fryar said. “I loved playing here and we had some awesome games.”
One of the advantages Jones Senior had was its Bowtie Committee, a group established in the late 1990s who came to games wearing bib overalls and bowties to games, slapping the floor prior to tipoff in order to motivate the players and cheering the Trojans to victory.
Rodney Young said the concept started as a joke, but has turned into a strong tradition.
“It came from a dare,” Young said. “I dared Clyde Murphy to come to a game wearing bib overalls and a bowtie and he did it. From there, we kept going with it. There were two or three other schools who started doing the same thing — they didn’t wear bowties, but did have the overalls — because they knew we made a difference in the stands.”
Some of the more recent basketball stars didn’t play high school games in The Matchbox, but had great memories in the gym, including Janari Hill, who played from 2015-18 and scored a school-record 64 points in a game his senior year.
“I remember watching the practices growing up here and seeing the older guys play,” Hill said. “For a lot of us, this is how we got into basketball and it was great to watch.”
Khadre Brooks, who played from 2015-17, said he’ll never forget the great times.
“There were a lot of memories, lot of practices — lot of sweat because it’s The Matchbox,” Brooks said. “We never practiced in the new gym — this one was always there for us and I wish we could’ve played here because my shooting percentage would’ve been way higher. Growing up, I remember games being packed and sometimes you couldn’t even get in.
“You’d have to watch from a glass where they stored football equipment. There were a lot of ups and downs here, but I’ll never forget it.”
