The varsity boys basketball team defeated cross-town rival Model at home in the first region match-up on Dec 4. Juniors Brent Bell, Jayce Donaldson, and Christian Teasley had notable performances in Tuesday’s game. Considering these schools are so competitive, the student body was ignited with anticipation.
“Model and Darlington go back and forth, they play each other in a lot of sports,” Bell said. “It’s always competitive, you never know who’s gonna come out on top, normally Darlington.”
Teasley also believes this is a big rivalry.
“The rivalry is big because there are a lot of people over there on that side that always like to talk trash,” Teasley said. “But you know when they talk about how bad we play, basically they want to be like us too, they just hate us, everybody hates Darlington.”
Teasley, Donaldson and Bell all emphasized how important the win was for the program.
“It was a great win for the team, and it’s just the beginning,” Teasley said. “It set the tone for region play, and I think it let everyone know that we are coming for them.”
“It set the tone for a lot of teams that think we are nobody and can’t play,” Donaldson said.
“I think it is a great win for the team, it’s always great to win the early games in the year, and starting region play 1-0,” Bell said. “It’s an all around good win for the program and beating a cross-county rival to start the year is always good.”
Bell and Teasley both shared how the student section affected their performance.
“I feel that the student section had a very positive impact on the team’s performance, they brought the energy,” Bell said. “They let us know we had a very huge home court advantage, which you love to see, especially in high school basketball.”
“The student section came in so clutch for us, that energy is what we needed,” Teasley said. “That was the best energy we’ve ever had, and I think the student section will just keep on building and building.”
Jay Watters shares his point of view from the student section.
“I think it got the crowd turned up a little bit, but not really because it’s Christmas and the theme doesn’t really do it,” Watters said. “It’s the people that make the student section happen, I was over there yelling, giving Chase Allen a little something you know, basically that’s all there is to it.”
Watters wants more students to show out for the basketball games.
“It’s a lot more fun than football games, it’s honestly great. Brent Bell especially turns me up, after the three point celebration he hit, man, that got me fired up to say the least,” Watters said. “Just chirping the other team. I mean, I don’t do anything, I’m just sitting there watching the game, and I get to talk, and it’s fun.”