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BY GRACE DOVE BACK MOUNTAIN CORRESPONDENT
Thursday, February 03, 2000 Page: 3
LEHMAN TWP. – Hooves and hoops ruled the Lake-Lehman High School gymnasium
Friday night at the annual donkey basketball game between the senior class and
the faculty. The game went into overtime, with the faculty winning 44-42.
Before the game, female members of the senior class battled senior guys, who
were wearing boxing gloves. The girls won that basketball game, 25-21. Monica
Cabrera, a foreign exchange student from Bolivia, said she had never seen
anything like it. “This is the funniest thing in the world,” Cabrera said
during a break in the action. “My parents would laugh if they could see me.”
Players weren’t allowed to pass or shoot the ball unless they were mounted on
a donkey. Instead of dribbling the players carry the ball down the court while
riding.
The quickest way to score seemed to be to guide the donkey under the hoop,
stop and shoot. But this proved to be no easy task.
The donkeys controlled most of the action in the first half, as they
bucked, balked, bolted and refused to cooperate with their riders. Two got
away from their riders and trotted around the gym. Student Matt McMahon spent
most of the first quarter chasing his donkey, which refused to let him mount
after it was finally caught. The donkey dragged the tall senior around the gym
several times. David Kowalek prepared for the worst by donning a blue football
helmet for his ride. Experience didn’t seem to pay off for the faculty team.
Science teacher Ed Narkiewicz has played in the game for three decades, but he
still needed help getting aboard the donkey. And in overtime, the donkey
decided to lie down under the basket. “My gosh, he just killed his donkey,”
said public address announcer and high school vice principal Fred Sponenberg.
Head football coach Rich Gorgone didn’t fare much better. After getting on his
donkey, Gorgone slid off the other side. Later in the game, he tried to mount
the donkey by leaping over its hindquarter onto its back. He slid off. The
donkey refused to stand still for him until middle school principal Robert
Roberts firmly held its halter. During the game, several cheerleaders wearing
Ross Township police uniforms “arrested” spectators. Cheerleader and
“police chief” Carrie Houssock wore a gold badge belonging to her father,
Ross Township Police Chief John Houssock. Prisoners had to bail themselves out
for $3 after 10 minutes in jail or they could get time off for good behavior
and charged $2 after five minutes.
The charges included everything from “being a bad brother” to “never
being home” and being “stupid.”
The money raised will help the cheerleaders pay for their trip to the
Can-Am Competition in March. Held in South Carolina, the competition features
squads from schools in Canada and the United States.