Staff school students in basketball

By Will Bodendorfer,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–

Davis High’s annual student-staff basketball game ended in dramatic fashion this year, with the faculty members winning by a score of 44-41.

History teacher Pete Haws was elected the game’s MVP, after finishing a perfect 5 for 5 from the field and tying for the game high with 10 points.

“I was just hitting easy open shots and never took anything too wild. […] This is my best game in a staff-student basketball game and this is probably the 10th time I’ve played,” Haws said.

Varsity basketball player junior Ryan Kreidler was the head coach of the student team, and said after the game that the athleticism of the staff team threw off his game plan.

“Our strategy was to try and take advantage of their lack of athleticism, but it really turned out they were better athletes than us, and we just had a tough time putting the ball in the hole,” Kreidler said.

After starting off sloppy, the staff team eventually picked up the pace and ended the first quarter with a 13-5 lead.

But the lead didn’t stay for long as the student team, led by the hustling play of senior Nate Curtis, came roaring back. After getting a spark from late addition senior Seymour Wilson, the student team began to play team basketball.  Thanks to a balanced attack that featured 6 players scoring in the quarter, the student team went into halftime up 21-18.

But the lead changed hands again thanks to a dominating third quarter byAthletic Director Jeff Lorensen. Lorensen was all over the court, finishing his first DHS student staff game with 10 points, 4 steals and 4 rebounds. Thanks to his play, the staff team headed into the 4th quarter up 36-28.

Despite the deficit, the student team continued to play hard and eventually clawed their way back thanks to a pair of big buckets by junior Hazel Jackson.  Jackson was the leading scorer for the student team, finishing with 8 points, all of which came in the second half.

After blowing a big lead for the second time, the staff team called a timeout with 2 minutes left, down 41-40.

Coming out of the timeout, both teams exchanged missed baskets until the staff team had the ball with 1 minute left. Thanks to great ball movement, the staff team was eventually able to find attendance secretary Carmen Schnathorst for what would prove to be the game-winning bucket.

After a dumbfounding coaching decision by Kreidler to not foul and let the clock run out, the staff team triumphed.

Besides Haws and Lorensen, the staff team also received a big contribution from science teacher Wayne Raymond, who was able to use his lengthy frame and smooth moves to snatch up 8 rebounds, including 5 in the first half.

Despite the loss, Kreidler said after the game that he was proud of the effort his players gave.

“Obviously we wanted to win but in days like today it just wasn’t in the cards for us,” he said.