Grace Huewe

The Cheataz and BKE took a group photo after their JCC basketball game. Although they were disappointed in their loss, the Cheataz still celebrate with their friends. “It was a really fun game,” Avi Levin (11) said. “I can’t wait for the next one.”

The Jewish Community Center basketball league team, The Cheataz, played against their rivals, Burger King Elite on Feb. 4. BKE won the game 36-31.

Josie Patterson (11) had high expectations for the outcome of the game.

“Both [teams] went into the game with a losing streak, so it was just a matter of who would have their first win,” Patterson said. “We thought we had it in the bag.”

The history behind this rivalry stems from the friendship that the teams share. Of the same friend group, The Cheataz represents the girls while BKE represents the boys.  

“We were not about to lose to the girls,” Avi Levin (11) said. “Not just because they’re girls, but because we’re all friends and that would be embarrassing.”

The Cheataz felt pressure representing the only girls team in the league. They had yet to even come close to winning a game.

“Even though we were losing for pretty much the entire game, it was only by a couple points,” Patterson said. “This was the best score for us all season. Winning seemed like a possibility for once.” 

Because of the rivalry in the game, many fans came to watch.​ The Cheataz bench was filled with other girls from the friend group.

“The girls sitting on the bench were trying to distract us the whole game,” Levin said. “They had a different chant for each of us guys that they would yell when we had the ball.” 

Nearing the end of the game, the score was just a couple points apart, and the players were unsure of who would be deemed victor. 

“I was sweating a lot at the end because I wanted to win so badly,” Patterson said. “We were down two points with a minute left and they started to run the clock which made us all mad.”

As the seconds ticked by, there was some unfair play on behalf of BKE. 

“Since we’re taller than most of the girls, we started to hold the ball in the air when we saw the clock running,” Levin said. “Technically, it’s not against the rules, and we had to do what it took to win.”

In the end, BKE took the win. Although there were some hard feelings, the friendship persisted. 

“We were pretty upset when we lost, but we were missing one of our best players, which is our excuse,” Patterson said. “The boys were rubbing it in our face, but we all still took a group picture after.” 

Despite their loss, the girls are not giving up the dream of beating their friends. Luckily for them, a rematch is scheduled for Mar. 2.

“We will play BKE again at the end of the season,” Patterson said. “We are already preparing to win — we have to beat them this time.”