The young and the young-at-heart enjoyed a unique sporting event last Saturday night at Forbush High School as the Yadkin All-stars took on the world famous Harlem Wizards basketball team.
The game was the kick-off fundraising event for the Yadkin County United Fund.
“It was fun. We had a good time,” said Yadkin County Schools Superintendent Dr. Todd Martin, who played for the All-stars. Martin praised the Wizards and said it was a great event for the community.
“Make no mistake those guys are really talented. They’re all former college players and most of us are not, but they’re also good guys to be around and we had a lot of fun playing against them and it was for a good cause. We’re trying to raise money for the Yadkin County United Fund, so it was a winning proposition all the way around. We had a good time with some great people. I think the crowd was entertained and enjoyed it and we did some good for the citizens of Yadkin County.”
The Yadkin All-stars team was comprised of various members of the community including a number of teachers and coaches and representatives from local law enforcement, including both Sheriff Ricky Oliver and Yadkinville Police Chief Tim Parks. School board member Sam Crews and Chairman of the Yadkin County Board of Commissioners Kevin Austin also took to the court.
The All-stars gave it their best shot though they knew their chances of besting the Wizards were pretty slim. The team ran some warm-up drills before the starting buzzer sounded. Sheriff Oliver drained a number of shots from the three-point line during the warm up.
Despite their most valiant efforts though, the high flying Wizards quickly topped the All-stars with some fancy slam dunks and super-fast passes. Children and adults alike cheered loudly for both teams and roared with laughter as the Wizards pulled out all sorts of sneaky stunts to distract the All-stars, like pulling members from the audience to dance at center court in the middle of the game.
After a particularly flagrant foul from one of the All-stars, he was subsequently chased in and out of the gymnasium by one of the Wizards brandishing a pink plastic bat. At one point it appeared a wrestling match, followed by a football game, broke out at center court when one of the Wizards tackled an All-stars player prompting a pile up of members of both teams. It was all smiles though when the players disentangled themselves to continue the game.
Wizards players took to the stands to visit with fans during the game and signed autographs following the event. The kids had a chance to get in on the action as well. Several children were selected to play a game at center court during half-time. Just as the final buzzer sounded ending the game, all the children in attendance were invited to join the Wizards on the court for an impromptu dance party.