On Dec. 28th, the girls and boys basketball teams dug out and dusted off the old South Shore uniforms and headed over to the historic gym in Herbster. This tradition was started a couple of years ago, but sadly was not able to happen last year. This year, the coaches and teams decided to bring it back and add more new, exciting features!

To start the night off, Mr. Gustafson gave a great speech on the history and meaning of the gym. The gym was home to many high school games before the present school was built and is still used by high schoolers today to practice and play for fun.

After Mr. Gustafson’s speech, the first game began the alumni scrimmage. The teams were made up of graduates from last year all the way back to the class of 2004! The teams were evenly split and were required to wear a retro jersey of their choice. Shauna Kavajecz, a 2017 graduate from South Shore, had lots of fun that night. “It was really nice to get back on the floor with classmates, people I used to play with, and people I watched growing up.” Every alumnus that showed up and wanted to play, was able to do so. Participants for the night included Dallas Williams, Al Pearson, Eric Tuura, Shauna Kavajecz, Hayden Suo, Derek Jardine, Tristan Warbalow, Roger Branham, Jessica Johnson, Blake Reijo and Jacob Kavajecz.

Directly after the alumni game, the girls and boys teams took the floor to have the ultimate shoot out. Each team recruited four shooters and rebounders. They shot for five minutes, but in the end, the boys barely pulled off the win. After the first round of shooting games, the girls warmed up for their scrimmage. The red team, coached by Ryan Tiberg, consisted of Rylee Nicoletti, Taylor Routley, Taylor Nicoletti, Leila Tuura, Abby Lahti, Lily Truchon. The white team coached by Jodi Truchon consisted of Myla Lahti, Chloe Sipsas, Natalie Knaack, Sara Kangas, Emily Montgomery, and Paige Lahti. The red team ended up winning that night, but the game gave the girls a chance to run and practice all their plays. Ryan Tiberg, the girls head coach, is a fan of the opportunities that the scrimmage provides for his team and the community. “The scrimmage gives the girls a chance to just play the game and have fun. They do not have to worry about what offense or defense we are running or who wins. They just get to play and have fun in front of their fans.”

Crowd games succeeded the girls’ scrimmage. The crowd members were given the opportunity to participate in games and win prizes. Jarrett Olesiak, a 1st grader who is OBSESSED with basketball, of course, wanted to participate. “I enjoyed winning and the prizes were cool.”

Finally, it was the guys turn to shine. The white team consisted of Ben Leduc, Bjorn Branham, Jake Winge, Holden Suo, and Carter Lulich. The red team was made up of Matthew Montgomery, Codi Routley, Douglas Hipsher, Sawyer Schierman, and Kyler Waters. At the end of the night, the white team won. Bjorn Branham, a junior, thought the night was fun and effective at the same time. “The scrimmage was fun and it was a very good opportunity to see what everyone could do in a full game when given the freedom to play for a while. It was also really neat to play in the Herbster gym.”