Davenport North players honor 'happiest little boy'

DES MOINES — When Jinaya Houston looked at her shoes, she saw Braddock Shovlain.

'He was on my mind a lot,' said Houston, a junior at Davenport North and a future Iowa Hawkeye. 'We felt like he was watching us.'

Wednesday should have been a day of unqualified joy for the North community. Three years removed from a winless season, the Wildcats made it to the girls' state basketball tournament for the first time in school history.

Sunday afternoon, Shovlain, the 3-year-old son of North athletics director Dave Shovlain, died after he was struck by a Chevrolet Silverado in a church parking lot in Davenport.

A moment of silence was held in Braddock's honor before North faced Ankeny Centennial in a Class 5A quarterfinal Wednesday afternoon. The Wildcats wore white warmup shirts with 'SHOVLAIN' printed on the back, with angel wings coming from a basketball, and 'Braddock' in script underneath.

'The girls came up with the design,' North Coach Ron O'Brien said. 'Braddock was the happiest little boy. He was always running around the gym. He loved to come up to you and hug you around the leg.

'I can't describe the past week. I feel so bad for the family. It really puts things in perspective. We were riding such a wave (after a regional-final win over Cedar Rapids Kennedy). It's just something you have to deal with.'

Centennial prevailed in a back-and-forth battle, 56-52.

Houston heard about Sunday's accident via text from a friend.

'School just wasn't the same this week,' she said. 'But North is a family. Everybody supports each other, and we wanted to do something to honor him.'

In addition to the warmups, each of the Wildcats wrote Braddock's name on their shoes.

SOUTH WINN GIRL IS COOLEY RECIPIENT

RaeAnn Klimesh of South Winneshiek is the recipient of the E. Wayne Cooley Scholarship.

The scholarship, in the name of the longtime IGHSAU executive director, is worth $15,000 over four years as she attends the college or university of her choice.

Klimesh ranks first in her class. She is a three-time cross country state qualifier and a member of South Winn's state-qualifying 3,200-meter relay the past two seasons.

She is involved in student government, choir, drama, band and speech.

Klimesh will be honored during halftime of Friday's Class 2A championship game.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com