On Friday March 4, the Fossil Ridge High School Unified Basketball team faced off against the Silver Creek High School Raptors. The Fossil athletes, clad in white and green, ended the close game 49-45 after 40 minutes of play. Joey Maddocks was the leading scorer of the night, making five baskets for a total of 10 points for the Sabercats. His favorite part about playing Unified Basketball, however, isn’t the “great feeling” he gets when he scores baskets. Instead, he says his favorite part is “getting to play with the team.”
At the beginning of the first half, Fossil struggled to get their momentum going. Silver Creek won the tip-off and scored twice before the Sabercats could get their hands on the ball. Within six minutes of play, however, Fossil had shrunk the Silver Creek lead to just 10-8. Despite the apparent Silver Creek energy, Jake McCartney scored twice and led the Sabercats to a halftime score of 25-22. Rosie Heins stood out on the Silver Creek team in the first half, with a buzzer beater that boosted their score and morale.
McCartney’s favorite part about playing for the Unified team is that, “this team really gives [us] the opportunity to be somebody, to stand out, to get out there in the world and prove ourselves.” He is one of the more well-known players on the team, and the student section was found chanting his name on more than one occasion during the game.
Silver Creek came back fighting in the second half, and sunk two threes to immediately take back the lead. However, Sebastian Bastille scored four consecutive points, and, with eight minutes to go, Fossil led 37-35. The Sabercats worked well as a team, sharing the ball and guarding the Silver Creek offense. When Coach Kim Eberhart called a timeout with four minutes remaining, Fossil was up 47-37.
The last minutes of the game were dominated by David Van Skiver, who scored the final Fossil basket of the night. He stole the ball several times, preventing Silver Creek from coming back. When the final buzzer sounded, the score read 49-45.
Despite the competitiveness of the game, the kindness shown between teams was astounding. It was not uncommon to see players from Silver Creek hand the ball to a Sabercat to give them another chance, or to watch a Fossil athlete high five their opponent after a good shot. Both teams demonstrated generosity that is often forgotten in competitive sports, and everyone left the game feeling like a winner.
