South grad watches North daughter play last time

NORTH’S LIZZIE BINDER (left) puts up a shot in a recent game. – Photo by Emma Adamavich

Thirty-seven years ago, Tom Binder played in his first North-South basketball game.

Ten days ago, he watched his youngest daughter partake in her first – and final – hoops contest in the rivalry.

Binder, a 1988 graduate, played for South. But when he and his wife moved, his two girls became future Golden Raiders.

“Other than girls basketball and girls volleyball, I root for South,” he said. “I even used to go to North-South games and I’d wear the Lady Raider pullover and then I’d have my Redmen shirt underneath that. So when the girls game was over, I’d switch over to South stands for the boys.”

Binder’s oldest daughter, Claire, also played basketball and recently graduated. Lizzie is a senior who joined the sport for the first time in high school (the Cal State-Bakersfield recruit’s main sport is volleyball).

“I grew up always hearing stories about the rivalry and I remember my dad always would cheer for South’s boys even though my sister and I went to North,” Lizzie said.

The Golden Raiders beat the Redwings by 11 points on Jan. 30, and Lizzie probably will not forget it any time soon.

“He always talked about how cool it was to play in the Armory and every time my sister and I would play against South, we had to leave it all on the court because (he said) in 20 years we would remember that game like it was yesterday,” she said.