Love conquers disappointment; Foxboro girls find joyous closure.

Foxboro's award winners, from left: Abby Hassman, Katelyn Mollica, 

Lizzy Davis, Jodi Resnick, Shakirah Ketant, Yara Fawaz.

(Photo by Margaret Hassman)

Yes, there's a pandemic crisis afoot, and yes, about 150 people essentially ignored it Sunday morning at Norton Country Club, save for the replacement of hugs with elbow bumps. I don't think they regret it at all.

The Foxboro High School girls' basketball team needed this.

"They needed closure," Foxboro coach Lisa Downs said. "They needed to be together once more as a team and to be celebrating their accomplishments instead of being sad about the crazy week they had."

The varsity, junior varsity and freshmen teams of Foxboro High, their coaches and parents and a few invited guests gathered in the clubhouse of Norton Country Club for an end-of-season banquet that was just as much therapeutic as it was celebratory. Eight hours later it would have been illegal because of the terms of Gov. Charlie Baker's latest emergency decree limiting public gatherings to 25 people. But in the brief window that was available to them, the Warriors and their families chose to gather and try to put a happier face on the circumstances that caused their championship season to end one game shy of confirming that championship in the traditional way.

From all indications, they succeeded.

The banquet lasted just under four hours -- very lengthy, you might think. But there was so much to say and so much to express, nobody seemed to mind.

The banquet began with the varsity members clustered around a projection-TV viewing of their sectional semifinal game against Hingham at Taunton High School, in which they rallied from a 12-point deficit to win by seven points and earn a trip to the TD Garden. By far, it was the most exciting and tense outing among their five-game postseason run, as reflected in the elevated voices of the cable telecasting crew -- especially that of play-by-play announcer Mark Davis, father of senior guard Lizzy Davis, who did his level best not to go over-the-top with his parental pride while calling the games all season long, but could not contain his excitement when his daughter took charge after charge to blunt Hingham's offensive forays. When Lizzy, playing with four fouls (as were three other Warriors), took a charge inside the last minute of play to rob Hingham of its last legitimate chance to steal away a victory, her father's voice registered on the Richter scale -- and deservedly so.

Yara Fawaz's certificate hides the

smiling face of Foxboro girls' 

basketball coach Lisa Downs.

OK, the analyst got pretty excited during the game, too. He's writing this column.

Seeing that game was the much-needed validation for young athletes who, just three days earlier, were told by their heartbroken coach upon meeting for practice that they would not be playing their state-championship game against Taconic High of Pittsfield on Saturday at the DCU Center. Thursday had been a day unprecedented in American history, with practically every local, state and national sports organization shutting down and canceling events as part of the response to the growing coronavirus crisis.

Other local schools had already postponed or canceled outright their end-of-season gatherings before Sunday, but the Foxboro girls resisted. It wasn't insensitive to the seriousness of the moment; the brunch buffet was served by plastic-gloved Norton Country Club staff to prevent excessive handling of utensils. People were still aware of the threat, however; each sneeze or cough heard among the gathering, no matter how innocent, was greeted with nervous laughter. Even I made a point of assuring those seated around me that my occasional sniffle was the result of early-season pollen allergies, which had flared up with a vengeance on Thursday and thankfully subsided considerably the next day,

Once those initial trepidations were put into context, the banquet took a more recognizable tack. Coaches presented their end-of-season awards and recognized the members of their teams, and for the most part, fist bumps or elbow bumps replaced handshakes or hugs.

When it was time for the varsity members to be honored, however, caution was thrown to the wind. Players hugged each other and their coach, just as you'd expect from individuals that had invested so much of themselves in each other for so long.

One could readily understand why Downs considered this 24-2 team the most special one of her nine-year tenure as head coach. Maybe that's why she opted not to dwell upon the cancellation of the title game that brought almost as much sadness to her team as a defeat on Saturday might have.

In relating the accomplishments of her core group of seniors, Downs set a light-hearted tone that made it plainly evident that sadness over the cancellation, or about their departure from the program, was going to be supplanted by expressions of joy. Downs not only talked about the things that Davis, Abby Hassman, Shakirah Ketant, Yara Fawaz, Jamie DeVellis, Julia Kelley and Jodi Resnick did on the basketball court during the season, she also spoke of their personality traits -- their TikTok pre-game dances, their jokes, their humanity -- the things you hear and see every day and may take for granted until it's realized that those days have come to an end.

And the girls had their share of tales to tell about their coach, a former Foxboro High basketball player whose intensity has not waned in the 30-plus years since her playing days ended. They laughed about Downs' penchant for breaking down game films at 3 a.m. They laughed even more about her sideline demeanor, especially stomping her feet loudly enough to draw the players' attention in even the most crowded of arenas. And they made it clear that they loved every minute of playing for her and her assistants, even when they were demanding of them.

There's a word for it all. Love.

That love was also shared among the athletes, as well. When the underclassmen came to the podium to express their thoughts about the graduating seniors, I was particularly moved by Katelyn Mollica's respect and admiration for Resnick, who had received the team's award as the best teammate. Mollica, a junior, is the Warriors' leading scorer and Resnick rarely saw playing time, but the 1,195-point scorer spoke quite eloquently and from the heart as she listed a multitude of reasons for what made the latter the perfect teammate.

Near the end, Lizzy Davis also stepped up to offer her thoughts. It was about the only time that the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association was mentioned by name for bringing her team's season to a premature conclusion.

"I was so mad at the MIAA for this, " she said. "We've been together for four months -- four months! -- and we couldn't have just four more days?"

But Lizzy was smiling. Her entire speech, delivered with eloquence and wit, perfectly illustrated how the Warriors resolved to put aside their disappointment and heartbreak and celebrate a special season as it should have been celebrated.

Those amazing expressions of love by all of the varsity athletes were followed by a terrific highlight film produced by Foxboro Cable Access that not only captured the excitement of the season, but also humanized the athletes that gave all of themselves from November through the early days of March to bring a championship back to Foxboro.

And that's what we'll call it going forward, as we all retreat to our bunkers to ride out this COVID-19 storm. Not "co-championship," as it will go into the MIAA record books.

These Warriors are champions in every sense of the word.

And now, ladies, make sure you wash your hands.