This past Saturday, on January 25, the Kingswood Oxford varsity boys’ basketball team had the opportunity to play the historic TD Garden in Boston to raise money for autism awareness. They were among 16 high school teams from around New England total to play in the arena throughout the day. 

In addition to playing on the famous court, the team had the opportunity to use the Garden locker rooms and enter the arena through the same tunnel that the home team, Boston Celtics players, do. The game was also shown on the jumbotron and the Celtics announcers called out the players’ names one by one as they took the court.

Assistant Coach Ron Garcia said, “Our players grew up watching the Celtics. Playing on their floor and being pros for a day was a dream come true.

Despite the 47-63 loss to Pingree School, the day was memorable for the team and coaches. The Wyverns played a strong game with a lot of back-and-forth competition, led in scoring by Jackson Wolff ‘20 with 12 points and Hunter Meshanic ‘21 with 10 points. A total of 16 teams participated throughout the course of the day with each team raising $7,200 for autism awareness.

“It was truly a magical night for a great cause,” said Garcia.

Boston Madison Square Garden (later shortened to just Boston Garden) opened on November 17, 1928, and has hosted home games for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as concerts, circuses, and other performances. With this comes a great deal of history and is the source of much nostalgia for loyal sports fans. The Boston Garden was demolished in 1998, three years after the completion of its new successor arena, TD Garden.