Photo by Lester Smith
In the final seconds of the SMS student-faculty basketball game on March 10, Ellen Miller concentrates on a free throw that could have tied the match. No such luck! The students lost at 50-51.
As the final event of Spirit Week at Suffield Middle School, the Parent-Teacher Activity Council sponsored a basketball game in which a student team from eighth grade travel basketball faced a select team of faculty athletes. In an exciting, suspenseful match played in the SHS gym on March 10, the faculty team struggled back from a lop-sided 23-8 deficit score at the end of the first quarter, were still behind at 36-33 after the third quarter, and fought to a one-point victory, with the final score of 50-51.
But the fun started pre-game, with many kids wearing the school blue-and-white colors, some with faces painted to match. A well-staffed, enthusiastic pep band provided the music, and spirits ran high. Principal Damon Pearce announced that seventh grade teacher Matt Dobi had promised that if the students won, or if at least 150 students attended the game, he would surrender his top knot (a.k.a. man-bun in current lingo). Mr. Damon added that the count had reached 148. Then he got the news that two more had arrived.
The tonsorial event was to occur after the second quarter. When the time came, following a half-time hula hoop contest, Mr. Dobi sat in mid-court as the crowd gathered, then bolted just as his girlfriend Caroline McManus got her scissors in place. A quick pursuit brought him back, and he had to submit. The de-bunning didn’t seem to affect his vigorous court action in the second half.
The game itself was played with a handicap to counterbalance the size and experience disparity of the teams, with baskets counting two points for the students and only one for the teachers. Aside from that, the time clock provided its thumb on the scale, somehow faltering near the end so the young players might get a chance to recover from a stubborn one-point challenge. That challenge put a tremendous pressure on Josh Woodbury and Ella Miller, who each got a chance at a pair of free throws at the very end of the game.
An enthusiastic, happy spirit pervaded the whole event.