DAMASCUS, Ga. (WALB) - A young man’s memory is being kept alive on the basketball court by his best friend at Southwest Georgia Academy (SGA).

The SGA Warriors middle school basketball team is mourning the loss of teammate Philip Calhoun, who passed away on June 22. One of Philip’s best friends and teammate, David Carr, said he was crushed when he heard the news.

“It was devastating. All of us were just devastated. Philip was... He was our best friend. Have you ever had the one friend that just did literally—baseball, football, basketball? He did everything,” Carr said.

Carr just started playing basketball this school year and had not made a basket all season. But on Jan. 9 — Philip’s birthday — when the ball was in Carr’s hands, he wasn’t the only one shooting it.

Carr said the moment was everything for him, and the crowd was so loud that he lost his hearing for a little bit.

“Oh, it was awesome. We were trying to—every single player—to get one shot. Everybody was just screaming. I went partially deaf in my left ear for five minutes. Oh, it was just amazing,” he said.

Matt Dalrymple, the head coach of the Warriors, said he’s proud to see his players come together like this.

“Being a part of a team is something you can’t do anywhere else, and our goal was to get David to score. David had been trying to score the last couple of games. Everybody else had scored. And so, the last two or three games, he was trying to get it up there, and it just didn’t go in. It’s neat how he scored on Philip’s birthday,” Dalrymple said.

Carr made the shot with 16 seconds left on the clock — Philip’s jersey number.

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Let us know. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

To stay up to date on all the latest news as it develops, follow WALB on Facebook and X (Twitter). For more South Georgia news, download the WALB News app from the Apple Store or Google Play.

Copyright 2026 WALB. All rights reserved.