'Old' Plains alumni lose to 'Young' team on the court

It was a bitter disappointment for the Plains High School alumni basketball players, who had the lead against the students until the last three minutes of the game when the Spanish foreign exchange student hit his mark.

It was the 5th Annual Alumni Basketball Game in the Plains High School gymnasium Friday evening with a crowd of nearly 75 fans. The alumni team consisted of only nine players from 19-year-old Jayden Weeks of the Class of 2023 to 44-year-old J.J Blood of the Class of 1998.

"It is the first time the alumni have been beaten, but it was all in good fun," said Tyrel Allen, whose alumni team faced 10 of the Horsemen basketball team he coached last season. There were also three basketball Trotters from this last season on the student team. The game was set to two 25-minute halves.

The alumni team "Old" started strong with baskets by Parker Flock and Jake Weyers. A 3-pointer by Tristan Allen, who's going to be a freshman this fall, put team "Young" on the board. Randy Garrison, the regular voice of the Horsemen and Trotters and an alumnus of the Class of '76, came up with the team names. Foreign exchange student Pablo Hernandez, one of the high scorers for the Horsemen during the season, hit his mark to put team Young one point behind Old. But the tight game didn't last long and the alumni boys spread the gap with Jack Revier, Wyatt Weyers, Kyle Revier, and Blood all scoring, and soon Old had a 16-point lead, the widest spread of the game. Young had too many turnovers and the scoreboard showed the result.

The alumni maintained an average of 10 points ahead of team Young most of the game, but by the end of the first half, Old had only a 45-38 lead. Keith Meredith and Jayden Weeks chipped in for points with Tyrel Allen as the referee. "I was rooting for both teams, I'm Switzerland," said Dr. Kathleen Walsh, the school superintendent.

In the second half, Principal Kevin Meredith took over as referee. Young started on a comeback, but Old was able to temporarily fend them off. However, some showed signs of fatigue in the second half and Young had 14 energetic players.

"I was rooting for the old boys," said Garrison, who served as the announcer. "They started out really good, but in the second half I think they got tired," he said. Their lead dropped a bit in the second, but then returned to 10 points ahead with just over 14 minutes left in the game. At one point, Old had a 12-point lead, but then Darren Standeford, who will be a senior in the fall, hit two 3-pointers and a 2-point basket. With eight minutes left in the game, Emelia Rivinius became the first girl on team Young to score, but she was soon followed by Ava Lawyer and Katelyn Subatch, both Trotters. There were four girls on the team. Old had none.

Jacob Lulack of the Class of 2025 scored a 2-pointer and Standeford followed suit to put Young one point behind Old with four and a half minutes to go in the game. Kyle Revier struck to take Old to an 87-84 lead, but Hernandez came right back to a 1-point deficit. Subatch made a drive down the center and for the first time, Young had the lead.

Jack Revier returned the favor for a tie game. It didn't last long. Hernandez hit, Subatch hit, and Standeford hit. With less than two minutes in the contest, Young had a 97-91 lead. Jake Weyers nabbed two of two free throws, but it wasn't enough. Young got control of the ball and it was over. The kids defeated the men 97-93.

"It was nice to play against my brothers," said Lawyer, referring to Wyatt and Jake. "And it was nice to beat them." "We felt sorry for them," said Jack Revier, but Wyatt Weyers said the old guys just ran out of gas. "And they just kept hitting those threes," added Weyers, who chalked up a dozen points in the game. His brother, Jake, had the high score with 15 points, followed by Jack Revier with 14. For the students, Standeford collected 19 points, followed by Hernandez with 17.

The ticket money raised goes to the Plains Booster Club. The nearly $800 raised with the 50-50 drawing goes to the Horsemen basketball team, and money raised in the concession stand goes toward the Plains Skills USA team.

"I'm not old, but I'm definitely out of shape," said the 21-year-old Flock. "I didn't get injured, so that was a good thing," said Tyrel Allen. "And that was my goal."