Playing ball for a good cause

Blair staff members faced off against Montgomery County Police officers in a basketball game to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, on Thursday, Sept. 29.

At 4 p.m., SGA President Barun Aryal thanked everyone for attending the game and asked for a moment of silence in memory of those who were killed or were affected by the hurricane. The game began right after Aryal's welcoming note.

Right from the beginning the game was intense. Both teams had skillful players and played their best, making it difficult to predict the results. Some of the skilled players on the Blair staff team were NSL and Middle East studies teacher Lansing Freeman, a key player in passing and moving the ball around the court; Physical Education teacher Emanuel Charles, who was outstanding at shooting from any point on the court and Physical Education teacher Orlando Larracuente, who played well on defense. Other members also provided good defense and scored great shots for the home team. Nonetheless, the array of great players on the staff team was unable to beat the police officers, who put up a great fight. The police team included Blair Educational Facilities Officer (EFO) Ralph Penn, Wheaton High School EFO Allen Johnson and Officer Terry Gloster.

The first quarter ended with a 19-19 tie. By the time second quarter rolled around the score was 42-38 with the Blair staff in the lead. The staff had the lead at the beginning of the third quarter, but ended with the police ahead 54-51. At the end of the final quarter, the Montgomery Police team walked away with an 82-80 win.

Although the Blair staff lost, the game was held to benefit those in need of emergency help, so winning or losing was not the main concern. What mattered was getting students to show up to the game and raising money for hurricane relief efforts. In addition sponsoring the basketball game, the SGA also held pizza sales. The SGA ended up raising around $2,000.

Officer Johnson was notified about the basketball game about two weeks ago, but because of the hectic scheduling, it took some time to get everyone together. In the end, everything came together and the SGA, with the help of the Montgomery County Police, was able to raise money. As Officer Gloster said, "[The game] went well; it was for a good cause," and everyone enjoyed it.

One thing, however, that everyone noticed was the lack of spectators in the main gym. "We had the information all out and people knew about the game," said SGA Vice President Stephen Demarais," but the only time we could book the police was when kids were at after-school sports. Still people donated, but it would have been nice if more kids showed up."