Basketball players connect on and off the court at union Tournament

This past week, Union College held their annual basketball tournament from February 14 to 18. Eight academies, including Campion Academy, played in the tournament. After three days of both intense and friendly competition, Andrews Academy took first place for both boys and girls teams. 

On Wednesday evening both Campion Varsity teams won their first game. Thursday, the teams fought hard, but unfortunately lost the two games they played. Union held shooting competitions on Thursday evening. From the girls team, Grace Garman and Catie Fairfield were chosen for the free-throw and three-point contest. Ekenna Nwankwo and Shawn Ferguson shot for the boys team.

On Friday, the teams played their first official bracket game. The boys game was extremely close until the last fifty seconds, where Sunnydale scored and pulled ahead. The girls were set against some of the harder teams there and lost as well. Overall, Campion players displayed some incredible skill, teamwork, and positive sportsmanship despite the losses. 

That following evening for vespers, Union’s Black Choir performed songs before introducing the speaker. After the speaker, Campion students led out in a spontaneous Vespers Deluxe (what we at Campion have come to call an after-glow featuring worship music). Students from all of the different schools gathered together and worshiped God through their music, opening the Sabbath united as Seventh-day Adventist Christians after a hard day of games.

Grace Garman, senior, elaborated, “My favorite thing was singing around the piano for our own after-glow. It was not only a great way to meet new people, but we were able to connect with one another aside from the basketball court. It gave me the opportunity to talk to people from other schools.”

On Sabbath afternoon, Union hosted an Oasis community event consisting of snacks and board games. It was a great way to relax on the Sabbath and experience community in a college setting.

Saturday evening, the final games were played. Both Campion teams played exciting games against Maplewood and both won, taking 5th place overall. At the end of the night there was an awards ceremony where Dominic White and Catie Fairfield were both awarded the All Tournament Award for their teams. 

While the teams may have gone into the tournament hoping to place higher, everyone still enjoyed their time spent at Union, both on and off the court. 

Ekenna Nwankwo, four year senior, expressed, “I enjoyed the tournament because I was able to meet new people. I got to see a lot of basketball games that were close scores and I even got to play in some myself. It was a good last tournament experience with my friends”.
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Watch the recorded games at https://www.youtube.com/@unioncollegeutv

Catie Fairfield, Student News Team