Staff Report

Too often, it seems, the worth of a high school basketball player’s career is judged by that magic number — 1,000. As in, did that player reach 1,000 career points?

That gets your name up on a banner in your school’s gym for all time, and scoring 2,000 points, well, that makes you a legend. Might even get you your own personal banner hanging from the rafters.

But basketball is so much more that just scoring, but, unfortunately, playing great defense, running the show as a point guard and putting teammates in great position to succeed has never gotten anybody’s name up on a banner.

But teammates and coaches will always remember the contributions of players like this.

And when you talk about the 2024-2025 season for the Overbrook High boys basketball team — a season that saw the Rams go 25-4, rip off a 16-game winning streak at one point, win the Tri-County Conference Diamond Division title, the league tournament’s Flight A crown and make it to the sectional quarterfinal round — the conversation starts with Zair Green.

The 6-foot-1 point guard wasn’t the leading scorer on the team, nor was he the leading rebounder, but he had more than twice as many assists as anyone else wearing Navy blue and orange. Could he have scored more than the 792 points he amassed in his three years of significant varsity action? Absolutely. But that wasn’t his role. He was there to distribute the ball, hit some threes when the team needed them (he connected on 40 this season and 72 in his career) and play great defense.

“(Green) takes care of the ball for us under some extreme pressure, especially late game situations where the pressure ramps up, he handles it for us,” Rams coach Donny Lang said after Overbrook beat Sterling in the opening round of the state playoffs. “We’re so lucky to have him. We’re happy when he gets to the free-throw line because we know he’s locked in and is going to knock them down for us.”

Although like most high school players Green finished his career with a loss, he went down swinging, racking up 38 points in the Rams’ loss to Cinnaminson in the second round of states. It was easily the best scoring game of his entire career.

— Dave O’Sullivan, Staff Writer