Third Annual Basketball Game Raises Funds for Burgess Scholarship

A spirited crowd of mostly elementary age kids cheered on their summer program leaders Thursday night in an annual contest to raise money for the Daniel G. Burgess Memorial Scholarship at Wayland High School.

Pegasus Program staff and school administrators formed one team while the Wayland Recreation Department's Summer Adventure staff made up the other.

Admission to the game was free, but individuals could purchase raffle tickets -- $5 for an arm's length, $10 for a leg's length -- or leave donations.

When all was said and done, the free event raised $263 for the scholarship. It was an amount Connie Burgess, Daniel's mother, was proud of.

"That's really great," she said. "Especially since we didn't charge admission."

She pointed out that at least one of the players on the Summer Adventure Recreation Department Team, Ian Bonner, had himself been a recipient of the Burgess scholarship, which was founded in 2008 in honor of 2006 WHS graduate Daniel G. Burgess, who passed away in 2008. The scholarship is intended to help students pay their college tuition bills.

Both co-ed teams brought scrappy play and intensity to the game in the gymnasium, but the Pegasus Team never really had a chance. Many of the players on the Summer Adventure team were recently players on the WHS basketball team.

At the half, Summer Adventure led Pegasus 38-25. It was Pegasus, however, that nailed a buzzer-beating three-pointer to elicit cheers from the crowd.

The second half saw Summer Adventure extend its lead on the way to a final score of 90-52 and yet another buzzer beater from Pegasus -- this one a short jumper.

Even with such a lopsided victory, there were no hard feelings as both teams gathered around pizza donated by after the game.

The purpose of the third annual game was, after all, to raise money and both teams helped achieve that goal.