Photo: Olive Branch girls’ coach Jason Thompson (left) and boys’ coach Eric Rombaugh their teams Saturday as East Side High against Hernando Central in the annual East Side Alumni Reunion and throwback basketball game. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
Basketball fans taking in Saturday’s game at Olive Branch High School, beginning at 4 p.m., might be taken aback momentarily when they see the teams take the floor.
Instead of the Olive Branch Conquistadors and Hernando Tigers, you’ll see the East Side Dragons and the Hernando Central Tigers come out of the locker room and will be dressed as such.
The throwback jerseys and uniforms are part of the fourth annual East Side High Alumni Mixer and Game, which will bring back former students and alumni of the school, which is now Olive Branch Intermediate School. It’s an introduction to Black History Month in February and it also acknowledges two of DeSoto County’s African American high schools that existed at one time.
What was East Side High, you may ask? East Side was the all-Black high school established in 1958. It would later merge in 1970 with the white DeSoto County Agricultural High School to become the current Olive Branch High School.
Meanwhile, African Americans in Hernando were attending the first all-Black high school in DeSoto County at Hernando Central, which is now Oak Grove Central Elementary School.
It’s the history, both of the school and the basketball, that attracted Olive Branch boys’ basketball coach Eric Rombaugh to help begin the East Side throwback game four years ago.
“This is my 20th year here at Olive Branch,” Rombaugh said. “It really intrigued me to try and figure out the whole situation with East Side. How can myself as a basketball coach bring awareness of what East Side High School was to our current students?”
East Side produced some successful graduates in its time as a high school. Leon Gray went on from East Side to a career in professional football in the NFL, considered the “best left tackle” in the NFL in his time with the New England Patriots.
Judge Bernice Bouie Donald was an East Side student, but Mark Guy of the Community Foundation of Olive Branch said Donald was first in several areas. The Community Foundation is the organizer for the mixer and related activities.
“She was the first African American to graduate from Olive Branch High School,” said Guy.
Donald, now retired, was also the first African American woman elected as a Tennessee General Sessions Criminal Court judge, later the first African American woman in the country selected as a federal bankruptcy judge.
Former President Bill Clinton appointed Donald as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, and former President Barack Obama nominated Donald to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, where she became the first African American woman to serve on the court. She was confirmed by the Senate in a 96–2 vote.
Donald will be the guest speaker at the East Side Alumni mixer inside the school’s Performing Arts Theater, starting at 2 p.m. Alumni must register for the mixer and with a donation will get free admission to the basketball games.
The game also brings two Olive Branch connections back to the school as Hernando coaches. Justin Neely, an Olive Branch native who played for the Conquistadors, is the first-year coach at Hernando as boys’ coach. Blake Jones, who led several successful Olive Branch teams as girls’ coach, brings his Hernando team to play in the 4 p.m. contest. It was at Olive Branch where Jones’ coaching career began.
“It’s an honor to not only return ‘home’ to Olive Branch where I started my career, but also to represent Hernando in the great game we started a few years back,” Jones said. “It’s going to be a fun day.”
Jason Thompson, who succeeded Jones as girls coach, said it’s very important that his team be involved in the throwback game.
“We understand the history represented by the game, the old name of the school and all of the things that came with it prior to this school becoming Olive Branch,” Thompson said. “This is one big event that brings together a community and gives an understanding of the tradition and other things that used to transpire back in the day.”
Guy said the event will also award a $1,000 scholarship to the student winner of an essay contest connected with the event. The scholarship is provided with support from the City of Olive Branch Mayor and Board of Aldermen.
The girls take the floor for their basketball game at 4 p.m. and the boys will follow at about 5:30 p.m.
And when the Dragons and Tigers take the floor Saturday, remember it’s more than just about basketball. It’s a reunion of students from a school with a proud past and it’s the acknowledgement of an integral part of DeSoto County history.
