This past Monday, Palestine High School brought back one of the town’s favorite events, Donkey Basketball! This was the first time they had done donkey basketball since 2019. The large crowd showed how much this event was missed. The four teams consisted of the PHS student senate, community members, current PHS students, and PHS alumni.
The first game was the PHS student senate vs community members. The starting line up for the PHS student senate team was Charlie Burkett, Morgan Knoblett, Kiara Fralicker, and Briley Beabout. The starting line up for the community member team was Jacob Baxter, Lauren Keesling, Shannon Zandandrea, and Phil Blank. These stars then subbed out for some other teammates to take over. The community members won this game, which sent them to the championship game.
The next game was played by current PHS students against PHS alumni. The current PHS student starting lineup was Ahlya Abel, Shawn Divine, Cydney Pethtel, and Zoey Rinesmith. The alumni team starting lineup consisted of Brennen Burkett, Chase Knoblett, Halle Piper, and Krescene Holscher. Yet again, there were some subbing out to ensure everyone got their time to shine on the court. The alumni team took the dub, securing them a spot in the championship game against the community members.
The championship game was played by the community members and PHS alumni. This game was very close, as both team had trouble making a basket. Just at the last seconds of the game Brennen Burkett shot and scored, tying the game. A tie has never happened in Donkey Basketball, so we had to find a way to break it somehow. Instead of going the traditional route of an overtime, the team captains were given the challenge to a dance off. OPH track and girls basketball coach, Devin Turner, set the standards high after rocking his dance to “The Git Up.” PHS alumni, Chase Knoblett, was very threatened by his competitor and didn’t want to participate. His dad, Doug Knoblett, came to his rescue and helped him win over the crowd to “YMCA.” Although the crowd loved seeing their local hero, Doug, get down on the dance floor, it wasn’t enough to win the tie-breaker. Devin’s moves won and so did the rest of the community members.
In between games was the kiss the donkey contest. The competitors in the running for this were Jack Hawkins, Zoey Beabout, Caleb Will, Jessica Sisil, Phil Blank, Stacey Ogle, and Hillary McCrillis. Zoey Beabout had the most amount of money donated and had to kiss the donkey’s lips. Jessica Sisil had the least amount of money donated and she had to kiss the donkey’s rear.
Another thing offered at Donkey Basketball were free donkey rides for the kids. Between games, players would help children live out their dream of participating in Donkey Basketball, free of charge. Whether it was seeing some of your favorite people compete for Donkey Basketball champion, or getting to ride a donkey yourself, this event had something for everybody!
