Through the pounding sun and relentless heat, players and families joined together on Saturday to celebrate the ribbon-cutting of the Scotty Monteiro Jr. Foundation’s basketball court in Onset, in honor of the late Scotty Monteiro Jr.

“It’s now 2022,” Wendy Monteiro said in a speech before the ribbon-cutting. “And we finally get to have this celebration.”

The first planned celebration was delayed because of the pandemic, Monteiro said, pushing the ribbon-cutting further back until plans coalesced in time for a celebration on July 30, nearly two years after the court was finished. A striking logo, displaying the foundation’s mission – “Stop the Violence” – and name, was added to center court in 2020.

“If you keep them on the courts,” Monteiro said during her speech, “you keep them out of the courts.”

The foundation honors the memory of Scotty Monteiro, Jr., an Onset native and Wareham High School graduate who was killed in 2009 when he attempted to stop a robbery at a party.

During Saturday’s Scotty Monteiro Jr. Foundation Family Fun Day, family remembered Scotty as a “creator of peace,” and Wendy Monteiro spoke to his consideration and kindness.

“We’re so excited,” she said of the court’s ribbon-cutting and celebration. 

After the ribbon-cutting, members of the Monteiro family and Wareham High School basketball alumni took to the court for its first official games. The first game’s score was 25-19.

Nearby, kids enjoyed face-painting and adults wandered over to the tennis courts, where Wareham tennis star Brooklyn Bindas was facing off against Fairhaven’s Kole Pinto in an exhibition tennis match. Bindas won the exhibition match 6-2, 7-5 against the Fairhaven sophomore. Both players have previously been named Standard Times Players of the Year.

For more information about Monteiro and the foundation, go to scottymonteirojrfoundation.org.