Basketball Showdown
February 12, 2020
On Monday, Feb. 10, OHS held the annual basketball extravaganza. This is a tournament where teams play five vs. five against each other like a normal game of basketball. They play three-minute halves with one-minute halftime. In the past, the senior class has been the favorites to win. This year, it was anyone’s game; there was a lot of talent on the teams. The rules are a little different than a normal basketball game with a lot less foul calls. The game starts normally with a jump ball. If the team was co-ed, then they automatically started with five points, and if the team was all girls there were 10 points already on the board and if the team was all-boys, there was no handicap. Substitutions were similar to hockey, people would change on the fly instead of checking in and out.
Things get very competitive between teams and that is why they have referees there to officiate. Members of the boys and girls basketball team came to help keep the games under control. Junior Payton Beyer said, “I loved seeing my team have fun and I enjoyed being the coach even though my team came up short.” Everyone, whether they were officiating or playing, had fun. Senior Kaia Elstad said, “It’s harder than it looks but I had a great time.” There were smiles all over the gym and lots of laughter at all the bad shots that people were taking.
Many of the teams that participated this year were just there to have fun while other teams were going for the championship. Senior Ethan Walter said, “We came into this wanting to get that championship and no one was gonna stop us, It was fun proud of the student council for making a fun event.” Team Leo Gantert went undefeated in the tournament and took home the championship. Their team consisted of many former basketball players compared to a lot of the other teams. Senior Marcus Andrist was named MVP of the tournament this year, he carried his team to the victory by scoring 12 points in the championship game. Andrist said, “The feeling of MVP doesn’t equate to glassing Mr. James Dahlgren.” The basketball extravaganza was a big hit this year and will hopefully continue on for many years.
