`Heroes' take win in annual Zane game
Fundraiser event for the 8th-grade class
Zane Middle School hosted its annual Hoops and Heroes basketball game last week, where the 8th-grade students faced off against local first responders while raising money for the class.
Sponsored by McCrea Nissan and Subaru and hosted by the Zane Parent, Teacher, and Student Association and the Black Student Union Club, admission was free.
The student team was a conglomerate of Zane's boys and girls 8th-grade basketball teams, both of which enjoyed successful seasons and deep runs in the Crescent City Jaycees Tournament, along with a few Zane basketball alumni that are now members of the Eureka High girl's basketball team — Oliviana Millender and Tiara Maualuga joined forces to help out the Falcon squad.
“It's such an honor to be able to do that, I think these kids get to learn what it's like to work with not only their teammates but also their future teammates,” Reuben Davis said of coaching the student team, who also serves as the girl's basketball coach at Zane.
The Hoops and Heroes game at Zane started in 2015, serving as a fundraiser for Zane's 8th-grade dinner and dance. The first responders team was made up of members of the Eureka Police Department, Humboldt Bay Fire and Eureka City Schools teachers.
“The first couple years it was kind of rough getting first responders and whatnot and then we decided to ask others as well. There's more heroes than there are first responders and eventually, it just started growing and growing,” Davis said of how they make up the Heroes team. “Then we got COVID so we couldn't (host the event) for a little bit. Eventually, we got to where on Thursday where they said we only had 4-6 people. I said `Oh my gosh what are we going to do?' and then we show up on the bench and there's like 15 or 18 of these heroes, so that was great.”
The Heroes team would go on and earn the 64-54 win but everyone left feeling like a winner, according to Davis.
“As a coach, it's tough to take losses, but this one's OK. Everyone won this event that evening,” Davis said. “It's always fun to watch the kids, the crowd's excitement, it just brings a whole different level of play.”
Along with the fundraising, the game allows becoming familiar with teachers, police officers and firefighters in the area while also getting to enjoy some good-spirited competition between one another.
“It's a huge impact for these kids, getting to see people that are protecting us and serving us as heroes. I think that goes handin-hand with getting to see them on the court and know like, `Hey,
everything is not just a job, we're out here to have fun as well.' They brought the community with them as well and made it very pleasing for both sides.”
Zane's 8th-grade girl's team took home the Double-A crown in the Jaycees tournament in December with the boy's team taking
second place in their division, but last week's game gave them an opportunity for one final basketball game as a player for Zane.
“They got to enjoy their last basketball game in their Zane uniform one more time with their peers and overall I thought it was a huge success,” Davis said. “Everything went off without a hitch.”