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Union All-Stars, Steelers both win
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Members of the Union All-stars team showed their winning attitudes on March 15 as they prepared to face off with a group of Steelers athletes in a charity basketball game.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .A group of Poland students showed off the yellow towels they were planning to wave on March 15 in support of the Union All-Stars basketball players in their game against a group of Steelers athletes.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .A brave Poland student used the March 15 basketball battle between Steelers athletes and the Union All-stars team as a chance to ask Steelers safety Ryan Mundy to prom.
By SARAH FOOR
Poland Seminary High School’s field house is usually awash with the school colors of blue and white, but on March 15, the color palette changed to black and yellow.
That evening, nearly 2,000 fans filled the stands to see Union teachers and Poland community members battle a group of Pittsburgh Steelers athletes for basketball supremacy.
In the hour before the game began, the team of Union All-Stars practiced passing and shooting and tried to stay calm before the big game.
“The consensus among the team is that we’re simultaneously extremely nervous and excited,” said Union kindergarten teacher Erica Donahue.
The Union All-Stars took center court and were introduced to the screaming crowd, but the excitement reached a fever pitch when the Steelers athletes were presented. Terrible towels were waved with pride as linebacker Mortty Ivy, safety Ryan Mundy, offensive lineman Ramone Foster, wide receiver Louis Lipps and quarterback Charlie Batch made their entrance.
The game started off with a bit of fun, with a foul being called on Ivy after a brush with Union principal Michael Masucci. Massucci’s daughters Katie and Hannah had Ivy pay up — twice — for the foul against their dad.
After that first foul, the game was serious business, with Poland players and Steelers giving it their all. In the end, the Steelers won 93-74.
However, the Poland team won where it mattered most. The event acted as a fundraiser for Union Elementary, with all proceeds from the game to be used to enhance the curriculum at the school.
Knowing that their loss was for a great cause, Masucci said the mood at the school was celebratory.
”Our team may have come up a bit short on the scoreboard, but Poland Union Elementary School definitely ended up on top last night,” he said.