Poole-Tatham story touches Huddle readers

The heartwarming story of Thomas Tatham giving up his starting spot on Senior Night at Pisgah to team manager Matthew Poole has resonated with readers of the High School Huddle in a record way.

A video of Poole scoring the first basket in Tuesday's 66-32 home win over Brevard has more than 1,000 likes and has been shared 460 times as of 11 a.m. on Thursday.

That makes it the most popular item that has been posted to the Huddle's Facebook page since it was started in the summer of 2010.

Poole has cerebral palsy and has been the Black Bears' team manager for three years.

Tatham, who has signed to play college baseball for Wofford, proposed the lineup change to Pisgah coach Casey Kruk.

Shortly after tip-off on Tuesday in Canton, Poole took an unsuccessful 3-point shot from the top of the arc. He rebounded his own miss and then attempted two layups, with the second falling through.

Understandably, the field goal caused pandemonium at Pisgah.

Mikell Clark-Webb takes photos at Black Bears basketball games and has been kind enough to provide some from Tuesday.

She wrote in an e-mail, "With all the great games PHS kids have played and won this year and last year, I can say I have never seen this much true joy in their hearts and faces before."

Tatham is the leading rebounder (8.9 per game) for the Black Bears (17-6, 12-2) and their second-leading scorer (13.2 points per game).

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