Long Beach Polytechnic Senior High has been named the "sports school of the century" by Sports Illustrated. It has sent more players to the NFL than any other high school, and multiple programs regularly snatch California state titles. The girls' basketball program is no exception. The Jackrabbits are back-to-back defending state champs.
Unfortunately, the team was humbled by some two-bit thieves who broke into the team's van in the parking lot of a Miami Wendy's and took off with some of the girls' gear and laptops.
"We don't even get into the city not two minutes, and we getting hit up like this here, so that's where we are at right now," the team's frustrated head coach, Carl Buggs, told WSVN.
The team had been invited to play in the Naples Christmas Tournament and flew into Miami from California yesterday with plans to take a van across Alligator Alley to Naples. Before that, though, the team stopped at the Wendy's at NW 57th Avenue and Sixth Street for a quick bite
Around 7 o'clock last night, someone smashed the van's windows and took off with four of the players' bags. The affected players were left without jerseys, sneakers, money, and personal items like laptops.
"Yea, we're just ordering our food, talking about tomorrow's tournament," point guard Dajah Jackson told WSVN, "like our game day and stuff, and the lady from the drive-thru told the worker the van was getting broken into, and then we all ran outside."
A police report was filed, but the team hopes that tournament organizers will help them find equipment so the full team can play.
In the meantime, the team's booster club has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay to replace the missing items.
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