Half-opened, mostly empty Papa John's Pizza boxes lay scattered across tables inside classroom 121 at Overton High School late Tuesday afternoon.

Also inside that classroom were boys and girls dressed in Antioch High School blue and white sitting with boys and girls dressed in Overton High School red, white and black. Some shared a meal. Some shared stories. Some shared both just six days after a 17-year-old gunman killed a 16-year-old female student and himself and injured another at Antioch.

Across the hall, the familiar sound of sneakers squeaking and basketballs bouncing on a gym floor could be heard. Antioch's junior varsity boys team was playing Overton in one of four rescheduled games between the schools, all originally that were to be played at Antioch.

Tuesday was Antioch's first day of classes since Jan. 22.

"We’re still healing," Antioch athletic director Cynthia Lewis told The Tennessean. "It's going to be a lengthy process. It's not something that will go away overnight. It's not something that will go away in a few days. One of my student's sayings today was, 'We're going to keep standing.' So, that's what we're going to do."

A moment of silence was held before each game Tuesday, and Overton players presented Antioch players with white roses during pregame team introductions. A recurring message on the scoreboard reading, "WE STAND WITH YOU," was shown throughout all the games

Antioch assistant principal Jason Kirby told The Tennessean that the school's coaches and players were not allowed to speak with reporters. Kirby also declined an interview.

"For whatever reason," Terrance Bryant had trouble falling asleep the morning of Jan. 22, after he'd worked an overnight shift.

Then his phone rang. His girlfriend was on the other line.

"She was like, 'Is 'J' OK?' " Bryant said. "I'm like, 'As far as I know,' and she's like, 'Well, I just passed by the school and there's kids all out in the street.'

"I guess she had passed right as it was happening, or right after it happened."

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"J" is Bryant's son, Jayden Bryant, a freshman at Antioch who plays on both the junior varsity and varsity basketball teams.

"I texted him and was like, 'Are you OK?' " Bryant continued, pinching one of the blue ribbons that were given out by Overton in his left hand as he waited for Jayden after the JV game. "He was like, 'Yeah, I'm OK, but I think somebody got shot.' "

Terrance Bryant immediately drove toward the school, not knowing any more details and keeping in constant contact with his son. Not until four hours later did the two make their way back home.

"I just let him know I was there for him, if he needed to talk," Terrance said. "I tried to make sure he stayed away from the pictures that were circulating. Don't watch anything. Don't chime in on anything."

Bryant said Jayden was a little nervous about returning to school Tuesday.

"The first step was them going to school (Tuesday)," Terrance said. "I think that brought some normalcy."

Antioch allowed athletes to decide whether they wanted to resume sporting events this week, Lewis said. She and other coaches polled students during virtual meetings Friday, and the majority were ready to play again.

The basketball teams resumed practices inside Antioch’s feeder schools over the weekend.

“They were ready to play,” said Lewis, who was in her classroom during a planning period when the shooting began. “We felt like sports were one of the things that were going to help get students back into their student spirit, their ‘blue and white’ pride.”

Rasheda Davis shared that sentiment.

Davis watched alone from a bleacher near the top level of the gym Tuesday while her daughter, Emonie, took her position on the baseline with Antioch's cheerleading team. Davis said Emonie was at Antioch High and had called to ask her to bring food on Jan. 22 when shots rang out from the other end of the line.

"The thing is, Antioch has had a lot of guns being brought into that school. To me, at first, I thought she was just hearing it," Davis said. "Then I heard the second shot and was like, OK, something isn't right."

Davis, who lives three miles from Antioch High, wasn't able to reach the school before police blocked off the scene. She and Emonie stayed on FaceTime for three hours before they were reunited.

"She was scared to go to school. She does not want to go," Davis said. "She didn’t go (Tuesday), and she doesn't want to go (Wednesday). I convinced her to come here (Tuesday) because she needs the support from this team and this school.

"These (moments) are the things you take for granted. It's a blessing to see my daughter and to see all her teammates still here."

Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at [email protected] and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina. Follow his work here.

Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at [email protected] and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Antioch basketball takes step toward 'normalcy' after school shooting