Ridley Spirit: Prep Boys Basketball takes on Spirit Night!
By Ava Edghill ’25, Staff Writer; Edited by Sunny (Yu) Zhao ’26, Staff Editor
On Friday, November 15th, the Ridley community gathered together for a fun and exciting night to cheer on our Prep Boys Basketball team at their first Spirit Night of the year! The game took place at 7 PM against Cali Prep Academy. It was the first basketball spirit night to be held in our brand-new Fieldhouse Gym. It was certainly nostalgic to be back in that gym, just like the days before the revamping of the fieldhouse. I think it is safe to say that the new space looks incredible!
The night began with Ridley’s very own Shakeela Vahdat ‘25 singing the Canadian national anthem. Shakeela sounded incredible, and it was a great way to start the night off! Students and families filled the stands wearing their Ridley gear and cheering for the boys. Students had cowbells, inflatable cheering sticks, and the infamous drum to help them make as much noise as possible. We even had our very own Hank the Tiger come out to support! Students brought signs for their friends on the team, holding them high and proud.
At halftime, the excitement continued as the Prefects hosted a halftime competition! The game consisted of two teams of three Ridley students competing against each other in an NBA-style all-stars relay. The participants were required to dribble the ball in zig-zags around the Prefects, do a layup until they made it, take a shot from behind the 3-point line, and then run back down the court to pass the ball to their teammate. Congratulations to Avery Katzman ‘25, Denise des Vignes ‘26, and David Ekenta-Ifeanyi ‘25 on being the winning team! After this show, students either hurried back to the stands to secure their seats or bought pizza from Ridley’s Women in Leadership club in support of the Shoebox Project.
Overall, I believe it is safe to say that the opposing team was certainly intimidated by our school spirit, with the final score being 80-50, a win for Ridley! There are definitely some necessary shoutouts to be made. Firstly, both Griffins certainly made their marks on their courts, with Griffin Collinson ‘25 scoring seven 3’s and Griffin Macdonald ‘26 scoring 14 points in one quarter. Quinten Ethier ‘25 and Caleb Roberts ‘25 also made impactful contributions to the team’s success with their outstanding performances! Overall, it was a thrilling and exciting game filled with lots of energy and cheers from the crowd. Congratulations to Prep Boys Basketball for their win and for making the Ridley community so proud!
