Energy filled Ravenscroft gym as Newton High School hosted the annual Tri-County Basketball Game against Campus. The game was held on Feb. 2 during the school day with just about the entire student body and faculty in attendance. Winter Homecoming festivities and a performance also took place during halftime.
The season started for the Railers on Jan. 19 with a win over the combined Maize and Maize South team. A total of eight games are played during this season consisting of three home and five away games.
“Before games, they get dressed, they get hype, they get on the bus and they cheer each other on. They talk about how they’re going to be winners, and how we can beat anybody,” special education teacher Ocean Gomez said. “They have a very good attitude the whole week when we get in here on Monday until we leave on Friday, basketball is all we’re talking about.”
The students can feel prepared because they practice throughout their adaptive PE class. The adaptive PE teacher, Jarod Foster, helps the students with skills and teaches them the game.
“They swim twice a week and other days they do basketball among other things,” special education teacher Eunice Kerbs said. “I think that [practice] helps a lot as far as skills and learning the game. We talk about it all week to get them in the right mindset.”
Not only does the game of basketball teach the students skills, but it also teaches sportsmanship and integrity.
“We work a lot about keeping our hands to ourselves and making sure that each kid who has a helper friend or staff member with them gets a shot that is unblocked, that way they have their chance to make a goal,” Gomez said.
There is an additional halftime performance that the Railiners teach to the students for the Feb. 2 home game. The Railiners held four practices to prepare for the show which consisted of playing games, learning choreography and learning more about one another.
“[The dance] went pretty good, everyone did really good. It looked like the kids were having a lot of fun,” junior Railiner Iris Whitlock said. “It is always fun when they can come to dance with us.”
The decibel level, due to the amount of spectators, is what Kerbs said truly makes this game different from any other. Kerbs said she believes that this event makes them feel very special.
“They get very excited for all the games, but I know that they really enjoy having their student body there cheering them on. Our student body does a really good job of cheering for both teams and making sure that everybody feels the love,” Gomez said. “I think that it makes them feel like superstars when all of their classmates come out and they know their names and they have signs for them. The Homecoming game is a big deal for us.”
