Hoopfest: For love of game, family
Seventh-grader, teammates dedicating Hoopfest play to nephew’s memory
In 2008, as more than 25,000 players shut down 40 city blocks for the madness that is Hoopfest, Devin Perez played with his team, the Ankle Biters. His sister, meanwhile, tried to get to the hospital through a jammed freeway and streets to deliver his new nephew, Talon.
While shooting hoops at his home in preparation for this year’s tournament, Devin remembers the weekend.
“We were at the hospital till 4:30 in the morning. We had to go home and wake up at 6:30 a.m. to be back at the courts by 8 a.m.,” said Devin, who will be a seventh-grader at Summit School in Spokane Valley.
Brenda Briggs, Devin’s mother and Talon’s grandmother, remembers the hectic weekend, too.
“Devin played on no sleep. We would watch Devin play and then run up to Sacred Heart to check on Talon and (his mom) Amanda,” Briggs said.
Devin’s sister, Amanda Briggs, delivered Talon a month early in an emergency C-section. He had a rare condition, vein of Galen malformation: an enlarged ventricle in his brain and water on the brain. Talon died April 30. Sunday would have been his second birthday.
Devin decided to dedicate this weekend’s tournament play to his nephew.
“The boys were talking, and Devin said, ‘I’m going to play for Talon.’ It was a precious relationship. Devin was more like a brother than an uncle. They were bonded,” said family friend Ruth Warner.
One of the mothers from the Ankle Biters surprised Devin by printing “In Memory of Talon Briggs 6/2008-4/2010” on the back of the team shirts.
Devin has played sports with his Hoopfest teammates since he was 5 years old.
Last year, Amanda Briggs brought Talon to watch Devin play. This year, Devin said he knows Talon will be watching.
For the last four months of Talon’s life, he stayed on a particular cushion on the love seat in the family room. Devin never entered or left the house without stopping to rub Talon’s head and kiss him on the cheek, Warner said. Devin taught Talon to “kiss, kiss” family members on the cheek.
Extended family and friends will gather to watch Devin play basketball and celebrate Talon’s life.
“Hoopfest is a way for us to honor Talon locally,” Warner said.
The Ankle Biters will play on Sprague Avenue and Howard Street. To get ready for Hoopfest, Devin practiced his shot.
“It’s even cooler now that Hoopfest is in the Guinness Book of World Records,” he said.