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Photo Credit: Karen Manley

On Thursday, February 23 both of Fossil Ridge High School’s Unified basketball teams took on Rocky Mountain High School. The JV game began at 6 pm, and the team pulled off a 42-30 win in forty minutes of play. Varsity fell to Rocky after a tough battle to the end, 21-34. Dee White, who ruled the court in the JV game and made the final shot just as the buzzer sounded, said that the most fun part is, “making the shots, and making the baskets.” When asked what she’d like to tell the school, she exclaimed, “come to the games!”

Ms. Rentel’s advisory class dedicated their sophomore service project to this game, making signs to hang on player’s lockers and hanging signs around the school. They encouraged fans to wear blue, the color of unity, to the game and to advertise with the hashtag “Keep Fossil Unified”. Makayla Lotito, one of the student leaders of the project, explained that, “we wanted to help create a sense of ‘togetherness’ here at Fossil, uniting people who are all unique and seemingly divided, by overcoming physical and social boundaries.”

The JV Unified team came out strong immediately, taking a 4-0 lead right off the bat. At the end of the first quarter, Fossil had possession and Rocky had managed a comeback; the score was 8-8. The Sabercats didn’t stop pushing back, and the score remained tied at the end of the half, 22-22. Dawson Coker and White played especially well, and it began to show as Fossil pulled ahead. With one minute remaining on the clock, they had a 40-28 lead.

The pep band played in the stands for the duration of the games, pumping up the thirty or so student fans in attendance. The Unified cheer team was also at the JV game to support the Sabercats, and they performed Miley Cyrus’s “Hoedown Throwdown” to huge applause at halftime.

At the beginning of the Varsity game at 7 pm, Rocky scored two baskets in quick succession. The Sabercat athletes responded in kind, putting up a three pointer and several more baskets before the half concluded. Rocky maintained their 9-16 lead as the second half began, and David Knuckey added several points to Fossil’s total. The Unified players cheered on their teammates, shouting “I see a comeback coming!” with ten minutes to go. Rocky and Fossil battled back and forth, each scoring several baskets to make the score 17-32 with just three minutes left to play. Knuckey again did his part, adding two more baskets before the game ended. The final scoreboard read 21-34.

As Lizzie Bodenhamer, a first-time Unified basketball fan, explained, “it’s not always about who wins, it’s not necessarily about the competition. It’s just seeing the smile on the kid’s face, when they get the ball or make a basket. I really enjoyed this experience.”