On Friday, February 28, the annual Juniors vs. Seniors Basketball Game was held in the gym of Lafayette Senior High School during A4. Students volunteered to participate in the game to help their grade level win. Students from each grade level were also chosen to become coaches for their teams. Junior class coaches included Anna Clay Denton, Clay Nobel, Jay Lindsay, and Mekhi Taylor. Senior coaches were Bryce Bates, Nathaniel Kincaid, Richard Harris, and Eli Thomas.
After all the students attending had filled both the home and away sides of the bleachers, a teacher announced the starting lineup for the junior and senior teams. Each team lined up to create a tunnel for their starting line-up to run through during their introduction after their name was called. In an interview with Lafayette Times, junior Oliver Fisher said, “I think the score will be 43-40, juniors up of course.” However, this was not the case.
Junior Brayden Damron was the starting tip-off for the game. Damron tipped it to the juniors’ side, so the juniors took possession of the ball. Shortly after, the ball was overturned to the seniors’ side, where they quickly put up 10 points, putting the score 10-0. After the ten-point lead, the junior coaches called a timeout to discuss a game plan further. However, this game plan did not work as with one minute left on the clock, the seniors dominated with a score of 23-3. Finally, the seniors shot another 3-point shot, making the final score 26-3, the seniors won, guaranteeing their next game against the staff.
After the Juniors vs. Seniors game, to briefly congratulate the cross country team who won state, Buzz Christensen, Jackson Profit, Xavier Richardson, Gabe Smith, Andrew Grace, and Van Weimer lined up in the middle of the court for recognition for their accomplishments. Their coach, Coach Joy, was awarded coach of the year, for state. Then the games continued, moving onto the Senior vs. Staff.
As the junior team transitioned off the court and into the crowd, the staff and senior teams began their starting lineup celebration for the next game. This game took an unexpected turn, with the staff taking a surprising lead. The intense match reached 38-21 right before senior Brogan McBride made a half-court shot. The points for each shot began to vary by the end of the game, unlike regular scoring; one half-court shot, ordinarily is worth 4 points, was counted as 9 points, the other half-court shot was counted as four points, and a senior who dunked the ball, which is typically is scored as 2 points, counted as four points. After random scoring and half-court shots for both teams, the faculty beat the seniors.
The Times interviewed Mr. Rouse, a player on the faculty team, about what his favorite moments were. Mr. Rouse responded, “The best moments gotta be the ending. I don’t think you can beat a dunk, half-court shot, dunk, 4-point shot, dunk.¨ Later on, The Times asked if he thought the staff team would win again next year, he responded, ¨The faculty will never lose ever, I can guarantee it. I will quit if we lose. I will retire and never teach another day.”
After a highly anticipated game, the faculty team came on top, dominating the seniors 42-37, ending just in time for students to be dismissed at 3:15 p.m. Celebratory music was played over the gym speakers for the reigning faculty team.
