‘We play for Tucker’: Westfield team reflects on scary night in home gym

mbrown@sunmulti.com

For several hours – even a few days – it didn’t matter that

Westfield boys basketball had a record just above .500.

On Jan. 10, right in front of the Hornet bench, Tucker

Moody, a sophomore taking advantage of varsity playing minutes, collapsed in

the first half of a non-region home game against Crisp Academy.

On. Jan. 18, prior to hosting Arlington Christian in another

non-region affair, the Hornets were celebrating Moody’s return home from

open-heart surgery in Atlanta.

“Everybody’s rallied around him and tried to be supportive

of him as a friend,” said head coach Jake Walls. “That thing’s a sobering

reality that hits you. We’ve encouraged him to think about eternity, think

about where you stand before God and live every day like it could be your last.

“That’s going to change the way you practice and prepare.

For the most part, we’ve tried to support Tucker, send him messages. The kids

know how to communicate through social media in so many different ways. Thank

the Lord he’s recovered.”

Jan. 10 was not the last day for Moody, the son of Trey and

Tamara Moody. The cardiac arrest came as a result of a congenital defect in his

heart present – yet undetectable  –

since birth. The scene in the gym was one of total silence as an emergency room

doctor from Cordele, there with the Crisp Academy team, performed CPR to bring

him back to consciousness.

“It was absolutely terrible,” said Walls about the

atmosphere. “It was scary. We can certainly talk about being prepared for those

types of situations, but until they happen you don’t know how you are going to

react. It’s a helpless feeling. You don’t know what to do. Thankfully that one

lady was there. She jumped right on it.

“He fell right at the bench. I left the gym to get the AED

machine. When I came back they were huddled together on the floor with the

other team and saying prayers for Tucker. It was a traumatic experience for

everybody.”

“It got to the point where you could hear a pin drop in the

gym,” said senior guard Barrett Stanley. “Me and my friend James Beeland took

the team under the basket and took a knee. We didn’t know how serious it was

until we heard things like ‘He’s not breathing.’ We were glad we could come

together at a point like that and pray for him.”

After waiting for an appropriate time, Walls and the

Westfield players went to Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon to see

Moody and offer well wishes to the family. His operation took place on Jan. 15,

and the day before teammates traveled to Egleston to give him a chance to be

around friends and relieve any boredom associated with being in a hospital

room.

“At that point, he could talk to us,” said Stanley about the

Macon visit. “That’s the first time I had a good feeling in my heart that he

was going to be O.K.”

“It was good to see the community step up and love on the

family and try to take care of him,” said Walls.

“It’s been hard this past week,” said Stanley. “Westfield is

a family, and that’s like one of our brothers. I think it brought our school

closer together.”

Westfield’s basketball season had its up and down moments as

far as game results go. With injury problems, a player like Tucker Moody had a

chance to go from B-team to varsity and gain more experience. Walls said he was

earning more time through his play.

Prior to basketball, Moody played football in Ronnie Jones’

program. Walls said this was another case where late in the season he earned

varsity time, playing anywhere from 10 to 15 snaps a game with the big club as

a cornerback.

Beginning Tuesday, Westfield embarked on a run of six

straight games in GISA Region 2-AAA. With Tucker Moody’s name and uniform

number 10 marked in green on the players’ shoes, the Hornets have a cause now

to carry them through these contests and the region tournament.

“We definitely have something to play for now,” said

Stanley. “We play for Tucker every game now.”

Westfield went 2-1 since that night, beating Tiftarea in

Chula the following Saturday 51-50. Walls’ team also won on the road this past

Saturday, 49-32 at Southland in Americus.

“We’re not expecting that it’s going to totally

revolutionize our practices,” said Walls. “That we’re going to come out and

somehow play like Superman. The best response we can have is to support Tucker

and be good friends. We do hope it encourages us to seize the moment; maybe it

will help us to play more together.”

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