River View tries to shootout cancer

Cheerleaders: Kyle Daugherty, Matt Brillhart and Trevor Wine pose for a picture before the start of the high school vs junior high staff basketball game at River View High School on Jan. 15. The seniors and fellow classmate Bradley Conkling took on the role of cheerleaders for the annual Relay for Life fundraiser. Beacon photo by Josie Sellers

COSHOCTON – A group of spirited River View seniors were pretty sure the high school staff was going to pull off another victory, but in the end the junior high staff members were the winners of the 2015 Relay for Life Basketball fundraiser.

The junior high staff won the Jan. 15 game 33-30 behind the efforts of Brad Baker’s 17 points while the high school staff was led by Jason Trout who had 12.

Rooting on the high school staff from the sidelines and pumping up the crowd during the game were cheerleaders Kyle Daugherty, Bradley Conkling, Matt Brillhart and Trevor Wine.

“This is our senior year and we wanted to show our school spirit,” Daugherty said.

This is the sixth year for the game and Brillhart said it’s an event they look forward to.

“It’s for a good cause and it’s fun to watch,” he said.

Wine agreed with him.

“It’s kind of neat us watching them instead of them watching us,” he said.

Junior Ian Brinker and senior Zack Carroll also helped out at the game and enjoyed the show the staff members put on.

“It’s fun to watch them pick on each other and it’s nice to see both schools come together to raise money for an important cause,” Brinker said. “Relay is important to us and this game is something we look forward to doing for it and enjoy.”

The students also enjoy seeing their teachers in a different light.

“They aren’t all dressed up like they are in the classroom,” Carroll said.

The game also is a chance for many of the staff members to get back out on the court again.

Junior high staff member Josh Bowman graduated from River View in 1997. He played basketball while in school and was coached by his teammate Baker.

Tyler McKee was another River View alumnus and former basketball player on the junior high staff team.

“It was all for a good cause, but it was great to represent the junior high with a ‘w,’” said the 2007 River View graduate.

Brandon Adams is another former River View athlete. He graduated in 2014 and appreciated being asked to play in the game.

“It was fun coming back and playing in front of a crowd again,” he said.

The junior high team also included 1991 graduate and former basketball coach Brian Darr and a graduate and former athlete on the high school team was Becca Smith.

“It’s tons of fun to come back and play,” said Smith, who graduated in 2006 and now helps coach basketball at River View.

The annual staff game raises money for the district’s American Cancer Society Relay for Life team through the $1 admission that is charged and a half time three point shoot contest. The Teen Leadership Class also hosts a concession stand and the pep band plays during the game.

“I think we continue the staff basketball and powder puff games because of the relationships we build with each other,” said Melanie Kunze, who teaches at the high school and is the River View Relay for Life Team Captain. “I’ve always said relationships are the most important thing we do in education.  Every day we try to build stronger relationships among our staff and with our students. This game is one way we can do that. It’s all about relationships. We raised awareness about cancer. We demonstrated the importance of physical activity and showed our students a positive way to have fun. We showed them how to react appropriately when things go well or when they don’t. No one threw a tantrum when they missed a shot. No one gloated. We all worked together to entertain the students and raise money for cancer research. So we continue these activities because they bring awareness to important causes – like cancer – but we also do it to have fun and to continue to build those very important relationships with each other. It’s why we’re an excellent school district because we do truly care about more than test scores….we care about the whole person.”

josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com

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