SJA Students Play to a Packed House

Red paint covered the face of St. Joan of Arc student Vivian Niestrom.

“I started by just stroking it on,” she said, “and then I decided to paint the whole thing.”

Niestrom was among the 55 eighth-graders—boys and girls—who decked themselves out in Charger Red and played in the annual St. Joan of Arc “Game of the Year” Thursday night against an adult team made up of officers from Lisle Police Department, the school’s boys and girls basketball coaches, and SJA teachers.

The eight-graders won, 87-69, with the support of a capacity crowd of parents and younger SJA students.

“It’s so fun,” eighth-grader Sean O’Connor said. Niestrom and O’Connor, who had a Mohawk hairstyle sprayed red and body paint on his face and arms, both said they came as younger students. “All the little kids get involved,” O’Connor said.

The event featured a raffle where kids and adults could put their raffle tickets into bowls corresponding to prize packages donated from parents that ranged from Legos to an Amazon Kindle to a set of sangria glasses.

Raffle-ticket revenues, along with bake sale margins, concession-stand sales and admission dollars all went toward various eighth-grade initiatives, according to event organizer Mara Cooney.

“Their eighth-grade field trip, their school pictures, a bunch of their dances—it funds all those types of things,” Cooney said.

Cooney was hoarse before halftime, yelling commands in a full gym with blaring music and student announcers giving play-by-play over the speaker system.

“It’s packed in there,” she said.

It was packed to watch a six-quarter game that saw the police officers jump out to a 22-8 lead after the first quarter. The students fared well against the eighth-grade basketball coaches in the second and third quarters, leading 44-34 at halftime.

Officer Tim Dempsey said before the final quarter, “The kids will win. Period.”

Indeed, the students pulled away in the second half—two quarters against the police and one against SJA teachers.

“For a bunch of old people we do all right running up and down the court,” Dempsey said with a smile.

The police officers sign up to participate in advance, said Dempsey, whose kids go to SJA. He said a lot of the same guys play each year, and they’re all big enough to make the eighth-graders look like, well, kids. Some officers have basketball skills, others don’t, but according to Dempsey they all have fun at the game.  

“We enjoy playing with the kids,” he said, emphasizing the good-natured and sportsmanlike identity of the game. “We don’t go nuts on them. It’s not in the spirit of the thing.”

Nick Clow, Dempsey, Dan Fitzgerald, Randy Johnson, Grif Lippencott, Andy Pogvara, Dan Taylor and Eric Williams made up the team of police officers.

The girls basketball coaches who played were Jack Bruscianelli, Eugenio Dawis, Leo Gustas, Brian Kenney, Jim Lawlor and Jeff Verbeke. The boys coaches were Chris Cooney, Tom Jansen, Gary Ledvora, Tracy Parks, Tim Thompson and Patty Waltz.

It was no surprise who O’Connor wanted to play against most.

“I would rather go against the teachers,” he said. “They’re just bad.”

Those teachers were Tanya Anderson, Meghan Doyle, Cece Kenney, Shannon Mayor, Jane Svitak, Therese Weber, Barb Wenzel, and Carol Zydron.

The night also serves as a cheerleader training-ground. The eighth-grade cheer squad led younger groups during off-time. The second-graders performed before the game, third-graders in between the first and second quarters, and fourth-graders between the second and third.

The eighth-grade cheerleaders performed twice: once at halftime and again between the fourth and fifth quarters. The second time they performed with brave eighth-grade boys that donned skirts over their basketball uniforms.