Allendale honors Jacksen Fitton by putting him in the starting lineup

The Allendale High School basketball team honors teammate Jacksen Fitton by holding up two fingers, which was his jersey number, on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. Fitton died on Nov. 17. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).

ALLENDALE, Mich. - “And at point guard, No. 2, Jacksen Fitton!” 

The former Allendale High School guard was announced in the starting lineup on Monday night when the Falcons played Ravenna.

He wasn’t physically on the court, but his presence was.

Fitton, who was a senior guard on the basketball team, passed away on Nov. 17. It was crushing for his parents Jasen and Carrie Fitton and his basketball family, too.

“It’s kinda cool to see the community come together for Jacksen,” senior Alex Genuise said. “It’s kinda hard, but with everyone’s help, it gets easier.”

When the Falcons took the court to start the game, they only had four players out there.

“We were planning on playing with four,” Allendale coach David Brown said. “We said ‘hey, it’s going to be 5-on-4, but we know its truly his spirit living with us still. So it’s really 5-on-5.’”

From left, Jacob DeVito, Alex Genuise, Hudson Kraigt and Luke Vredeveld were announced in the starting lineup for Allendale on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. Jacksen Fitton was announced as the starting point guard. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).

Genuise scored the first bucket uncontested and then Brown called a timeout.

“I had a play called with four guys to see if we could run it and try to score,” Brown said. “But he (Ravenna coach Courtney Kemp) conceded the tip and gave us the basket.”

Genuise had a game-high 27 points as Allendale won 67-43 on Monday. Jacob DeVito added 13 points.

“I like how they let us score the two points for Jacksen and then called a timeout,” Genuise said. “It meant a lot to us.”

Fitton was an intense, scrappy point guard on the court. But off the court, he had a goofy personality, his teammates said.

“One time in physics class, our teacher asked us what we wanted to do when we grow up,” Genuise recalled. “And Jacksen said ‘I want to be a WNBA player.’ He got kicked out of class for that. That was one of my favorite memories.”

Alex Genuise dunks the ball in the second quarter of a game on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. He finished with 27 points. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).

DeVito had fun memories of Fitton as well.

“We were in middle school band class,” he said. “I played the tuba and Jacksen played trumpet. We used to pour water and goldfish into my trumpet and pretended it was an aquarium. Jacksen thought it was the funniest thing ever.”

Brown, who is a P.E. teacher at Allendale as well, recalled how intense Fitton could be.

“My favorite memory isn’t basketball related,” Brown said. “I teach P.E. at the high school. When he was getting sick, he was in and out of the school day a lot. I had him for P.E. and were playing floor hockey (with tennis balls). His brother Chase is a really good hockey player and he’s a really good hockey player, too. We started without him because he was going to be late. I play goalie and I don’t want him to shoot on me. But he was mad that we started without him and he was just firing shot after shot. The competitor in him, he wanted to win at anything, even if it was just P.E. class.”

The school sold shirts with the No. 2 on it in honor of Fitton’s jersey number. The Ravenna team wore the shirts as well.

“I didn’t know they were going to do that,” Brown said. “So it was cool for them to participate, too.”

Brown said having a supportive community has helped with the grief.

“It’s broken my heart and been tough,” he said. “But the community has really come together. There’s been a lot of outpouring of support from other teams in our league and other teams that we don’t even play. And the Allendale community has really rallied around this.”

The Allendale student section - and most of the crowd - wore white t-shirts in honor of Jacksen Fitton on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).

Jacksen Fitton was honored by the Allendale basketball team with his jersey on the end of the bench. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).