Dunbar basketball event to bridge generational gap

Published 5:42 pm Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Old school and new school are set to clash Saturday as Harrison Street Christian Church is set to host its first-ever Ball or Fall Out basketball event Saturday at Dunbar Recreational Center.

Event coordinator Rhonda Scott said that the seed of the idea was planted while she was brainstorming for fundraiser ideas for the church.

“We’ve been in the process of getting a new sanctuary built, and so we’ve been doing different fundraisers,” Scott said.

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“A couple of months ago, we did a carwash, and I was just thinking of another way to raise money for the church.  I was really brainstorming and the idea just came across my head.”

The highlight of the event will see Team Old School—Skotter Mitchell, Glen Hicks, Presley Walker, Rory Jenkins, Donnie Kemp, Robert (Bougaloo) McClaney, Robert Blankership, Archie “Adee” Demings and more—facing off against Team New School—M.C. Crum, Tyran Scott, Shad Cannon, Shrimp Burnett, Rodney Davidson, Jason McConnico, Marquese Coleman, Twan Banks, C.J. Herbert, Raheem Moore and more—in a generational battle on the hardwood.

“Greenville has the regular season at Dunbar for the regular season and older men in basketball, and they think they’ve still got it,” Scott said.

“So I wanted the younger guys to come in and have a showdown between the younger and older guys.”

The showdown isn’t the only aspect of the event, Not unlike the annual NBA All-star Weekend, there will also be a dunk contest and a three-point shootout, though participation will cost $3 to enter for each competition.

Door prizes will also be given away to all featuring coupons from a number of local restaurants, including Bates House of Turkey, Real Pit Barbecue, Arby’s, Camellia City Bakery, Krystal and more.

There will also be a prize for the first and second-place winner in each competition.

Concessions will be sold, including hotdogs, chips, water, popcycles, soda and more, with all of the proceeds going toward Harrison Street Christian Church, and DJ Blindside will provide musical entertainment.

Scott said that the goal of any fundraiser is to make money, but Saturday’s event doubles as a way to bring a community—or several communities—together.

“They’ve been talking about it,” Scott said.

“The older guys said that they’ll be ready for the younger guys, so I said ‘we’ll see.’ And I sent out invitations to all of the other local churches, so we could all fellowship and have a good time.”

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children, and children under 5 get in free.