Wizards back in Riverhead, bring competition and laughs

Kids, parents and friends lined the stands at the Riverhead High School gymnasium on Thursday night to see their teachers try to take down the world famous Harlem Wizards basketball team. The annual event, which started in 2013 and had a short pause for COVID, always brings out the community in bunches for a good cause – to build scholarships for this year’s seniors.

Since its inception, through ticket sales, a 50/50 raffle, merchandise sales, the concession stand and sponsors, the Riverhead Central Faculty Association has raised over $97,000 for scholarships and school-related items such as books and laptops. They’ve contributed money toward senior banners and elementary enrichment programs. Even during the COVID period, the RCFA scholarship fund was still able to issue scholarships with money they raised in prior years and depending on how much they raise from the event, the fund gives scholarships ranging from $7,000 to $10,000 every year.

Having the Harlem Wizards back in town is always something the residents look forward to with the proof being the attendance — very few seats were left empty throughout the gym as the kids screamed in support. Wizards gear was on full display throughout the stands, and kids were eager to see one of their favorite teachers get dunked on.

“It’s a very nice community event,” Gregory Wallace said, who is the president of the RCFA and a physics teacher at the high school. “It’s an opportunity for the community to see teachers in a different light. We’re out here having fun and interacting with the community. Rather than the teacher-student relationship they typically see, they’re able to witness our idiosyncrasies on the basketball court.”

Before the teams took the stage, Cherese Foster, the former varsity girls basketball coach and Phillips Avenue physical education teacher was seen helping the other teachers out with their jump shot. According to Wallace, Foster was a major contributor to making this event happen in the manner it did.

“We absolutely enjoy doing this as teachers,” Ms. Foster said. “We have hundreds of our students in the stands and it allows us to loosen up and be ourselves and have a little fun. Things don’t always have to be so serious. It’s good to have a day to laugh and get a little competitive at times.”

With 21 teachers on the team, athletes in their own right, such as Patrick Fabian, the boys varsity basketball coach and Rich Vlacci, who coaches the varsity softball team, there were some shots made, believe it or not. Though the game wasn’t exactly competitive with the Wizards winning, 79-62, a good time was had with plenty of laughter involved.

In the third quarter, some of the Wizards switched teams to try to make it a little more competitive and Ms. Foster switched over to a Wizards jersey, letting her competitive side eek out a bit. The coach came up with a steal, knocked down a jumper from the outside and then threw a lob pass to “AIRTIME” who caught the ball and slammed it down. 

Before the game the Wizards called out all the “mommas” to come out and dance and picked the best dancer to win prizes. Based on how loud each section of stands were, prizes were constantly thrown out. With some of the antics of the Wizards, laughs just never ended. During the game “Big J” was apparently fouled by a teacher and grabbed his knee, yelling that his head hurt, bringing out “Giant” who happened to be the smallest guy on the court in a doctor’s outfit to assess the damage.

Though the final numbers haven’t been calculated, Mr. Wallace said that it was a “super successful” event. And it’s something that he wants to continue to do, year after year.

“I mean look at the amount of people that showed up,” he said. “Kids and parents both love this event. It brings the community together. I’m thrilled we’re going to be able to offer our hard-working seniors more scholarships this year and hope to continue to do so.”