The week of Monday, March 4, Fossil Ridge High School’s Unified Basketball teams won three out of four games played. On Monday, the teams played Poudre High School and on Wednesday they took on the Fossil staff. Though the Black Team lost against Poudre, the Green Team rallied and won. The highlight of the week, however, was Wednesday, when both teams beat the staff.

In the first game of Wednesday, the Unified Black Team took on the Junior Varsity Staff Team. Kristen Reed assisted freshman Jackson Maybon for the first point of the game. Staff member Craig Brown shot a three and his team trailed behind 6-5 with fifteen minutes left in the first half.

With three shots scored by Skyla Clark, Silvia Morales, and Sebastien Bastille, the students pulled further ahead. Ryan Miller, a staff member brought the staff’s score to seven, making the score 14-7.

Maybon dominated the assists and Bastille and Dee White made the shots. With a three-pointer scored by Jacqui Speight and a seamless shot from Silvia Morales, the score stood at 18-11. The Darcey’s each scored and Morales rounded out the student score at twenty points

While Morales dominated offense, White played a key role in keeping the ball from the staff side of the court. With several snags and fancy footwork, White ensured the possession of the ball remained in her team’s hands.

Reed assisted Maybon in a shot and Bastille sank another for a score of 28-27. The staff began to pull ahead when Rebecca Klyczek scored for the first time. The score was 28-31 when Daniel Van Skiver shot a three out of nowhere. The tie was scored when Bastille shot three in a row.

Clark shot another and Morales made two for a score of 41-31. The students were clearly determined to win. Brown scored the final shot for the staff and Bastille followed him up. One more shot for the students, and the final stood at 45-35, students.

The second game of the night was played by the student Green Team and the staff Varsity team. It began when David Knuckey scored a three pointer. The staff scored two, but the students quickly regained their lead with another three from David Van Skiver. Ehrich Weis tied the score at 6-6, proving this was going to be a close game.

Kim Gardner and Jackson Statkus each scored a point for their teams. The staff was ahead for a moment, but the game was quickly returned to a tie by Jaden “JP” Parker. Weis and Knuckey brought the score to 12-12. With a series of stolen balls at half court, the crown was on the edge of their seats.

Kim Salz made a shot followed by another staff point, putting the staff in the lead 12-18. Parker scored again, followed by two threes scored by David Van Skiver and Kaden Samuel. Jamie Westyn, the usual coach of the Unified team, scored and the score sat at 20-20.

Van Skiver and Salz each tied, followed by Robert Stone. The staff tied it up, then quickly pulled ahead with a layup from Weis. The staff led throughout the last minute, though they didn’t score again thanks to the students’ hard defense. Then, with ten seconds left, Samuel scored, tying the score at 26. The buzzer sounded and the stands were ecstatic. The game was going into overtime.

Samuel scored again, bringing the students ahead. With one minute left in overtime, Kim Eberhart, the head coach of Unified, was fouled. With two possible shots, Eberhart had the opportunity to tie the game. Unfortunately for her team, she missed both. The time played out and the students had won, 28-26.