GUSTINE — The atmosphere at Gustine High on Friday night was filled with nostalgia and community pride as the Reds closed out their 2025–26 basketball season. The night marked the final high school game for senior Joao Palomino and featured the annual “Lil Reds Night,” which brought local youth onto the court at halftime and energized the home crowd.
Waterford came away with the win, but the evening belonged to the program’s spirit and its departing senior leader.
Gustine opened with emotion as Palomino drew an early foul and hit a free throw to give the Reds a brief 1–0 lead. Waterford answered with an 11–1 run and controlled the rest of the quarter. Palomino added another point at the line, but the Reds trailed 14–2 after the first.
In the second quarter, Joao and his brother Alex found success inside, combining for six points. Despite multiple trips to the free‑throw line, Gustine couldn’t convert enough to close the gap and went into halftime down 26–10.
The Reds continued to fight in the third, with contributions from Justin Lopes and Frank Silvera, but Waterford’s transition offense stretched the lead to 41–16 heading into the fourth. Gustine played its best offensive stretch in the final period. Alex Palomino went 3-for-4 at the line and added a late bucket, while Lopes hit back‑to‑back field goals. Dylan Parker and Jayce Catano added late points to keep the crowd engaged until the final buzzer, which sounded with Waterford ahead 57–31.
For Palomino, the night was about more than the score. “It was definitely a cool memory finishing my senior year,” he said. “It was fun with everybody that I grew up with, and to finish it out like this was good.”
Head coach Frank Azavedo praised Palomino’s resilience, noting the years he lost to a shoulder injury. “He missed a couple of years due to a shoulder injury,” Azavedo said. “He came back, and as a senior, that’s all you ever ask for — for somebody to come back and finish.”
Azavedo said the program is already focused on building for next season. “We’re trying to build at the JV level, and we are building as a varsity team,” he said, adding that while the season has ended, the work toward the future is already underway.
