There are Senior Nights. And then there was McCallie guard Ernas Valauskas’ Senior Night inside the Sports and Activities Center during the February 12 54-47 win over Bradley Central High School.
A native of Lithuania, Valauskas’ mother had not seen him play a single time since he came to McCallie three years ago. She hadn’t even visited the McCallie campus before. So she’d missed his sterling 31-point effort in a playoff loss at Knoxville Catholic last season. And the game-winning 3-pointer he’d swished at Baylor to snap a nine-game losing streak to the Red Raiders a couple of weeks ago, that shot sure to become among the biggest in McCallie hoops history. And all those rebounds, assists, steals and points that led Division I Dartmouth to sign Valauskas to a college scholarship last November.
“I put him on a plane,” said Justina Pakamane. “When he got here he told me, “I like it here. I want to stay awhile. I’m so grateful for how McCallie has taken him in and supported him. We owe a lot to Mercy Kealey (McCallie’s Director of Tuition Assistance and Enrollment Planning). But the whole school has given him a shoulder to lean on. They’ve been like a family to him.”
Last October, Blue Tornado basketball coach Kenneth White and Pakamane began to formulate a plan for her to visit her son on Senior Night. It was to be a surprise, though White would say late Thursday evening, “I was afraid something would slip. That’s a long time to keep a secret.”
Come the big day, Pakamane made the 13-hour flight from Lithuania to Chattanooga. White called Valauskas to his office a couple of hours before the game and said he needed to speak with him. As he and Ernas talked about his McCallie career, there was a knock on the door. It was Pakamane. Hugs and kisses and tears followed. More than a few tears.
“He started to cry, I started to cry,” Pakamane said. “So special.”
Said Valauskas, “Man, what a surprise. It was awesome.”
The whole night was awesome for McCallie’s three seniors -- forward Trell Knight, guard Garrison White, the coach’s son, and Valauskas -- beginning with the players presenting flower bouquets to their mothers and receiving framed pictures of themselves in action shots.
“Trell’s been here four years,” said his mother Tephanie as she clutched her bouquet. “I can’t believe this is his Senior Night. It came and went so fast, to be honest. He’s learned so much here, grown up so much. It’s been a beautiful experience.”
She wasn’t sure Trell would see the floor on Thursday. She wasn’t sure he should. He broke his foot three weeks ago. He was still in a boot on Wednesday.
“I told him, ‘Don’t rush back,’ but I knew he was going to do everything he could to play tonight,” she said.
After scoring four points and pulling down four rebounds in his final regular-season game, Knight said, “I thought I would play more. They had me on a minutes restriction. But it’s getting better. I just didn’t want to lose this game.”
As much as Valauskas’ Senior Night might be tough to top, Garrison White and his father will remember his sizzling start against Bradley for years to come. He hit four 3-pointers from all over the court in the opening period and finished tied with Valauskas for scoring honors with 19 points, having hit a total of six triples in the game.
“Garrison had some good shooting nights at Boyd-Buchanan the year before we came here,” said Coach White, now in his second season at McCallie. “And he’s been working so hard on his shot. We’ve been hoping he’d have this type of game. He was really feeling it tonight. And it was great for our family. His grandmother came in from Memphis. A really special night.”
Not every coach gets to coach his son, but White said of his seniors, “They’re all like sons to me. And they’ve all meant so much to this program. So this was a hard night. But we’ll host a region playoff game here against Chattanooga Christian on Monday, and hopefully we’ll get a chance to play a few more games with them after that.”
They have meant so much to the program. After finishing with a 13-17 record a year ago, the Blue Tornado currently stand 19-10 heading into Monday’s 6 p.m. home game against CCS.
But whatever the future holds, Valauskas was adamant that it would be next to impossible to top having his mother by his side on Senior Night.
His face sporting an ear-to-ear grin, he said, “Having her surprise me was the best moment of my life.”
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