Last Friday, February 26, UC High’s thirty fifth annual Students vs. Staff Basketball game took place.  ASB Sports Commissioner Francisco Echavarria explained, “It’s a fun way to fundraise for the Senior Class.” All of the ticket funds went towards UC High’s current Senior Class. The pre-sale tickets cost 5 dollars, and tickets at the door were 7 dollars. Sadly, the seniors did lose, although the score remained pretty close and most people had a great time anyway.

  The student team was assembled of volunteers. No one from the Varsity Basketball Team was allowed to play for them. Sports Commissioner Jacob Lapp said, “The senior students who are not on the Basketball Team right now played against the staff members who wanted to challenge them. A lot of athletes who are not on the basketball team played.”

   Many senior students participated in the game, including Students Sara Frederich, Victoria Wade and Johnathon Ngo. Some of the staff who participated in the game were: Principal Jeff Olivero, Vice Principal Michael Paredes, English Teacher Richard Frink and Art Teacher Delia Martin.

   The seniors gave it their all this year, but unfortunately, it was not enough, as the staff were ahead all four quarters. The closest the seniors got to taking a lead against the staff was after the second quarter when the staff were only up by four.

  After the second quarter, during half-time, two of UC High’s dance groups performed. The two dance groups that performed were DDC (Diverse Dance Crew) and All-Male. Freshman DDC Member Savannah Emerson said, “It was really fun [performing] and exciting, and surprisingly, I wasn’t nervous. Even though I felt like I messed up a lot, I had a great time.”

  At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the score was 38 to 44, seniors down by 6, and as the rest of the quarter went by, both teams were making great shots, with the staff ultimately winning 56 to 49.

  Sophomore Mia Ryan said, “It was a good game and the scores were really close, but the staff were surprisingly more successful and won the game. I don’t think they [the students] took the loss hard, because they got the ticket funds either way and still had fun.”

  Frink said, “This was my second year [playing in the game]. I enjoy competition. I played the center position because of my height. I consider myself a decent athlete on the court, and I  look forward to knocking down threes in front of all the seniors.”