To kick off the Cash Drive week, OHS has a special tradition that OHS Student Council puts on annual Basketball Extravaganza for the non-basketball players to raise money for charity.. It is used to showcase their talents on a big stage. They play 10 minute games and the team with the most points wins at the buzzer. No one was able to predict the outcome of this year with all of the great competition OHS students had brought to the table. The teams usually have a theme and this year we had some of the greater themes: convicts, OBA Jerseys, Red Shirts (Red Flags) and the teacher team in official basketball jerseys and much more. 

The games usually get heated throughout the night and as teams get closer to the championship, Student Council gets the boys basketball players to come referee for the games to keep it in control. Senior Ethan Anderson was a part of the teams, however they did not advance to the championship. Anderson said,”It was a fun night, we didn’t win much but we had fun losing.” Another player, junior Garrett Karsten was a part of the team that went to the championship, but ended up coming up short. Karsten said,”It was a heartbreaking loss but I’m proud of the team and how we played and we never stopped competing.”

The tournament was pool play then they got their seeding from there. The first rounds of the playoffs were highly contested, the first matchup was Dream Team against the Red flag, which the Dream Team advanced. Next was Looney Tunes against Old Timers and Old Timers won. After that was Team Wavy vs. Elegant Elephants, it was a close game but Elegant Elephants moved on. Last matchup in the first round was Team D against the Convicts and Convicts won comfortably. In the Semi-Finals was Dream Team vs. Old Timers, The Dream Team went out to an early lead, but the Old Timers slowly came back  to advance to the finals. Convicts vs.t Elegant Elephants and once again the Convicts had a comfortable win. The matchup was set, Old Timers vs. Convicts. The game was back and forth, the experience of the Old timers prevailed and they became the champions. 

 After a contested championship game the “Old Timers” came away with a massive victory last night. MVP Rocha had a special night, as a coach and a player. She said, ”My team did great, that’s what carried us to the chip and ultimately gave us the dub, being the only female on the team was beneficial for us all.” The opposing coach against the Old Timers in the championship was Rielly Kleeberger. He said, ”It was a tough loss but I feel we improved over the course of the season and we’ll be back next year for the ‘chip.”Senior David Smith played a huge role in the path to winning, he dropped 16 points in the quarter finals. Smith said, ”It felt good to win because we thought we were DQed but underdog stories always prevail.” The tradition at OHS is a one of a kind night and this winning team will forever stay in the history books for their incredible path to victory. Let’s not forget what the event was truly about and that was to raise money for charity, OHS ended up raising $4057.77 for the whole week.