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Students sat by grade to support their teams.

Freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors all battled it out in the annual basketball tournament on March 27. The players were super nervous but when it was game time, they put on their serious faces and played like it was their last game. The freshman and sophomores were going hard and trying to make shots whenever they could. But the sophomores had the one up on them and won the game 19 to 11. 

Now the real game began when it was the juniors vs. seniors. Everyone was tense because the seniors won the previous year. After stretches and practice were over, they began to play, and you could tell they were giving it their all. The juniors were a little ahead of the seniors but the seniors managed to catch up. Though when the seniors did catch up, the juniors took this chance and scored a lot of points. As the time was lessening, the juniors had a higher score than the seniors and the juniors won with a score of 45 to 36.

The winners of the two games, the sophomore and junior teams, will  battle it out to see who is the champion for the tournament, which is being held on March 30,  in honor of David Ollivierre, a beloved teacher who died a year ago. Instead of putting their names on the backs of the basketball jerseys, the juniors and seniors, many of who had Mr. Ollivierre as a teacher, wore jerseys with “Mr. O” on the back.

Brandon Genoa, a senior, reflected on the team’s loss. “We worked very hard. Obviously, there is room for improvement. If everyone was at their best, there would have been a better outcome.”

Qualik Paniagua, a junior who scored some big 3-pointers and was one of Mr. Ollivierre’s students, said, “I came in thinking I was gonna lose but the defense that led us to a win led us to victory.”

Win or lose, all the players and their coaches are headed to  Brooklyn on Friday to cheer for the New York Nets.

Note: Look for more photos and videos of the game to be posted this weekend.