With a score of 95 to 44, the Silver Creek Raptors celebrated another victory over the Longmont Police Department on Wednesday.
The annual game between the Longmont Police Department and the Silver Creek Unified basketball team is not one to miss. The stands were full of supportive friends and family as the high schoolers ran onto the court.
Through a combination of teamwork, a passion to play and a drive to do their best, the Silver Creek team celebrated their individual skills on the court. Some players, such as #8 Josh Jones and #27 Bryan Newby hit three-point shots throughout the game.
Bailey Gaccetta, #20, was a pro at bringing the ball down the court, sharing it with other players and even making several fast breaks of her own.
Brenna O'Connor, #9, not only led the game off with a beautiful rendition of the national anthem but she ran past several officers on her way to score.
Beckham Wright, #4, scored several shots from the free-throw line, which seemed to be his favorite place to shoot from.
Ethan Newby, #22, Hope Palmquist, #19, Kim Garcia, #37, and Cristal Navarrow, #1, appeared to play a quiet game, however, several times each of these players stole the ball from unsuspecting officers, and ran to score points on the other end.
Despite their best efforts, the police team was no match for this undefeated team. "It was all Bailey. She had my ticket tonight and knew how to dribble around me," School Resource Officer Ryan Douglas said was a big factor in their loss. Claiming this is a rebuilding year, Douglas looks forward to organizing next year's team of officers for another try to steal the title.
While beating this team of determined athletes seems like a long-shot for the officers, they enjoyed getting to have fun with the athletes. No officer, whether on the bench, in the stands or on the court, could wipe the smiles from their faces as they watched these high school athletes enjoy a competitive game of basketball.
"It was awesome. It was super fun. The energy was great and we dominated, of course," said Co-coach Mia VanLeeuwen.
For the athletes, the attention and support from the biggest crowd turnout of the season was the best part of the game.
"They loved the attention and the support. They thought it was fun to actually be competitive," Co-coach Ashley Gaccetta said.
The Silver Creek team will play in an end-of-year tournament at Niwot High School on Saturday. They will play two games, the first at 9:55 a.m. The games are open to the public.
