CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Before the Charleston Catholic High School boy’s basketball team began Wednesday’s Class AA quarterfinal game against Ritchie County High School, players paid tribute to two West Virginia athletes who died in the last month.
Charleston Catholic players wore t-shirts during warm-ups honoring Capital High School student K.J. Taylor and Beckley Woodrow Wilson High School student Dwayne Richardson. Taylor was shot on Charleston’s West Side on April 7, and Richardson died in a shooting incident in Beckley on Sunday.
Taylor and Richardson both played on their respective school’s basketball teams.
“It’s tough for everybody. It’s tough for the whole state. It’s tough for these guys right here,” Charleston Catholic head coach Hunter Moles said after the game. “Some of our guys grew up with K.J. It’s just tough for them.”
Moles added the t-shirts were the least his team could do to honor Taylor and Richardson.
“You don’t have to post everything on social media,” he said. “I think at the end of the day, they know what you care about and how you care about it.”
Charleston Catholic won Wednesday’s game 68-58.