By: Kaylee Simmons

The gym buzzed with excitement. Student fans dressed in jerseys for the ESPN spirit theme, prepared to celebrate the graduating seniors. 

The annual winter sports senior night was held at 7:15 p.m. on January 31. 

Bellbrook played Monroe in an intense game. The final score was 60-59, with Monroe winning. 

“Senior night is a night for seniors to come in front of family and friends and show how far they’ve come in their sport,” Isabella Bird, senior varsity basketball cheerleader and co-captain, said. “It’s also a good game where players can reminisce about their past years in a sport.”

The men’s basketball seniors are Jacob Blankenship, CJ Schoy, and Austin Webb. The basketball cheer seniors are Phoebe Bretland, who also does gameday, and Isabella Bird. The competition and gameday seniors are Katie Griffin, Lily Westwood, and Makenzie Hammel. 

Different sports do different things for their senior night. 

“What I did for senior night was start in the game play for two minutes and then sit the bench the rest of the game,” Jacob Blankenship said. All of the other seniors played for the first couple minutes of the game as well. 

The seniors also all had boards with pictures of them from when they were kids to today. The boards were displayed on tables outside of the gym.

“My mom made a senior board that shows all of my childhood photos of me in dance and cheer,” Bird said.

The basketball cheerleaders also got to do some special things during the game. “I got all dressed up and went out onto the court and took a picture with my parents,” Bird said. “For my winter senior night I was able to fly in a stunt and choreograph a dance where I am front and center. Lastly, I got to wear a cheer halo and sash and was announced as a senior before the game.”

“I loved my senior night,” Phoebe Bretland, senior varsity basketball cheerleader and co-captain, said. “I loved the people I cheered with and getting to cheer my last season with them was incredible.” 

“I was very excited for it because I was really hoping there would be a large and spirited crowd as well as a good game,” Bird said. “And there was. The student section was amazing and the game was an intense but good watch.”