HOWARD – That’s not a new basketball player for East Knox. That’s junior Payton Lester, minus most of his long, flowing hair that Bulldogs’ fans have gotten used to for the last several years.
Lester, in the holiday spirit of giving, didn’t just get his wig busted — he’s having it turned into a wig. After getting his hair cut off, Lester donated his shorn locks to Wigs for Kids.
Located in Westlake, Wigs for Kids takes human hair and creates custom prosthetic hair replacements for children who have lost their hair while undergoing chemotherapy treatments for cancer.
“These kids are going through hard times and they just want to look like the other kids,” Lester said. “So I did it for a good cause. I just got it cut (Tuesday) morning (Dec. 22). There’s a process where you have to put it up in hair ties and put it in a Ziploc bag. Then you just drop it in the mail.”
Even Lester’s coach could hardly recognize him.
“He just came in today and he had the hair cut,” East Knox coach Ryan Powell said. “It looked pretty good. It’s a great thing that he’s doing. I didn’t know anything about it. We have pretty good kids.”
East Knox came out flat in its Tuesday, Dec. 22, game against visiting Mount Gilead, falling behind by a score of 22-11 less than two minutes before the half. But the Bulldogs came roaring back to defeat the Indians 51-44.
Weston Melick, who had 20 points, 10 rebounds and a pair of assists, battled foul trouble and scored 17 of his points in the second half. Teammates Shane Knepp and Terry Jacobs had 10 points each. Knepp also grabbed nine rebounds for the Bulldogs (2-4, 2-3).
Matthew Bland had 15 points and Paul Butterman added 14 points to lead the Indians (2-5, 2-4).
Lester had three points and five rebounds in the game for East Knox.
“We were getting good shots in the first half, but they weren’t falling,” Lester said. “Then we had a talk at halftime, and we reminded everybody to trust each other. We grew closer as a team in the second half. We’re sharing the ball and sharing the love. Everybody’s getting the ball.”
Powell gave his players the credit for their turnaround.
“For the first five minutes of halftime, I let them sit in the locker room and talk it out themselves,” Powell said. “They’re a mature, experienced group. I just told them that they need to get their heads right, and that they were letting their heads get in the way of their play. Then I came in and we made one little adjustment of our offense against their zone, and we were more aggressive in the second half.”
For more information about Wigs For Kids, go to www.wigsforkids.org/about-us.
