MICDS Coaches vs. Cancer Basketball Games

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Michael Turza, Reporter

The MICDS basketball games are always two dates Burroughs students have marked on their calendars. The atmosphere is great, the competition is lively, and the rivalry is legendary.

Hundreds of students flood each school’s respective gyms every year, and occasionally the chanting competition is more important to the fans than the actual game itself. Nonetheless, the popularity of this basketball matchup gives the schools an opportunity to do something meaningful for the community. Over the past couple of years, both MICDS and Burroughs have come together for one of the of the game nights to raise money for the charity “Coaches vs. Cancer.”

When asked about the partnership with MICDS, Sports for Charity leader and organizer Ben Cummings (‘19) said: “It really just started as a pipe dream: two rivals coming together to do something special. MICDS had done the event for a couple years and we saw an opportunity to team up to make an even bigger impact. Two years ago, the club reached out to the MICDS equivalent SpoFo Club. With a little communication and collaboration, we had decided to officially join forces. A group chat was made, and the rest is history.”

To raise money, the schools created pink t-shirts to sell to students to wear at the games the night of, as well as for the teams to warm up in. At the games on February 8th, there was a sea of pink all around the MICDS basketball gym. Other than where fans sat, there was no way to tell who was rooting for whom. “It was great to put the rivalry of our schools aside to be able to help out a great cause that we are both passionate about,” says another club leader, Turner Carlson (‘19).

As for the games that night, the girls varsity basketball team overcame a major deficit in the fourth quarter, from being down by eight at one point to come back and take the lead with one possession left. The lead gained by the Bombers was spoiled by a desperation three-pointer from MICDS to tie the game and send it to overtime. The Bombers would fall to MICDS in overtime, 45-44.

The boys basketball team faced a little pressure early from the Rams, but then held MICDS to three points scoring in both the second and third quarters. The Bombers defensive abilities would allow them to score a convincing 47-31 victory over the Rams, completing a season sweep. “Coach Frazier emphasizes defense a lot in his gameplan. We just showed that we can be a great defensive team, and hopefully it can carry over into the postseason,” varsity player Simeon Williams (‘21) said.