The Lexington High School Gymnasium was crowded last Friday evening, as a large number of Minutemen and Minutewomen supporters, of all ages, gathered for a Fundraiser, to help raise money for a new Scoreboard and Play Clock for the District Football and Track Stadium, at the high school.

The main attraction of the evening was a very competitive and entertaining basketball game between the Faculty and Staff of Lexington Middle School, and the Faculty and Staff of Lexington High School. There were also some side attractions, such as a chance for some of the younger fans to spin a hula hoop around their waist, participate in a game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors, or participate in a “Duck Toss,” to see who could toss their toy duck the closest to mid court. ( The adults who attended were certainly welcome to take their turn at shaking to the hula hoop, but from all that I could see, all of those in the adult age group, opted to sit, watch, laugh, and enjoy the action).

Spectators could also try to handicap one or more basketball players on either team, by making a financial contribution to require a player to do such things as wear an inflatable tube around his or her waist, wear a wig on the court, or wear a pair of large oven mitts, that tended to make it next to impossible to shoot, pass or dribble the basketball.

The basketball game itself was highly competitive, and the score was close throughout the contest, as both teams had a nice mix of male and female players, and both squads substituted freely. The Middle School bunch got off to a quick start, as they shot well early, and led 1512 at the end of the first period. The High School team outscored their opponent 14 -5 in the second period, and they led 2620 at the end of the first half, as each team enjoyed a much needed rest break.

The High School team opened up a double digit lead early in the third period, but the Middle Schoolers made a run and got to within 5 points at 40-35 when the period concluded. The game stayed close in the final stanza, and the Middle School five even resorted to a full court press down the stretch and cut their deficit to 2 or 3 points in the closing minutes. However, the High School squad handled the pressure, and got some high percentage shots down the stretch, and they held on to defeat the Middle School bunch 56 to 50.

There is definitely some good basketball talent on the faculty and staff of both schools, and many players showed some “good stuff” during this game. We hesitate to mention too many individual players, as many did play well, but we should probably mention the high scorer for each team. I do not know if an official book was kept for the game, but it was pretty clear that Jordan Mahurin, the High School Boys Basketball Coach, and Chris Brooks, a former Minutemen star athlete in three sports, who is the Middle School Boys Basketball Coach, led their respective teams in scoring.

These two, who both played College basketball, and whose jobs provide the opportunity for them to spend many hours in the gym, both shot very well from the outside, and it appeared that they both probably nailed more than 50% of their three point shots during the contest. In fact, Coach Mahurin even added a “slam dunk” to his arsenal of shots. The officials for the game were Lexington High School players, Chael Lichte, Zach Melvin and Drew Bollmeyer who did a good job, and got to view the game from “the other side of the fence.”

However, the “Most Valuable Players” of the night were definitely the many people who attended the event, and contributed very generously to this very worthwhile project. It has been estimated that Friday’s Fundraiser generated in excess of $4000, and the money that was raised will go toward the purchase of a new Scoreboard and Play Clock for the Football and Track stadium. The Scoreboard will be much more modern, and will contain many more features, and display more information than the Scoreboard that is currently in use at the stadium. It is estimated that the cost of the new Scoreboard and Play Clock will be at least $50,000. There will be other fundraising events in the future, and any donations will certainly be appreciated.

A big THANK YOU to the people of Lexington, for once again stepping up big time and giving so generously, when help and strong support is needed.