On Saturday, while standing in the crowd cheering on our athletes, many of us will forget to also give a round of applause for all of the people who put in the hard work to host the infamous rivalry North/South basketball games. There are many behind-the-scene steps involved in hosting such a popular event. “It’s an important game to the whole community,” explains Boys Varsity coach, Mike Rank Sr.. Through Rank Sr.’s eyes, the most crucial part in preparing for this game is to practice as normal, treating North no different than any other school in our conference. “Like any other game, we have to treat it as ‘the next game’, as if it is just another conference game.” Though the rivalry is what makes this game so important and fun, the players know to stay focused on what they need to do to win; and winning is what Rank plans on doing. “ I don’t remember the last time our boys have won both games of the season, and I cant wait to be the team that does it.” Rank is not the only one planning on winning. Senior Sara Schrank is treating this game the same as any other game, as well. “No matter what the two team’s records are, we’re going into our game with the mindset 0-0.” Though there is a lot of pressure, more than any of the other teams, the girl’s teams are also practicing just as hard as they normally would. “We don’t really prepare any differently, because in our eyes this game is no different.” The girls varsity team believes that any given team can win on any given day, with the right amount of effort and heart being put on the floor; and that is exactly what they plan on doing. Winning is not the only important thing during this rivalry. “To put it simply, the biggest part is having good sportsmanship. We want to represent our school in a positive way, and make ourselves look good,” South Dean of Students Kevin Formolo stated. In preparing to host the North/South games this Saturday, South has decided to do everything possible to get students involved. Formolo proposed an award for the homeroom that has the most students attending the games. Getting your homeroom together and planning on everyone going may land you money to use in the school store. “We hope to have a huge turnout of students, more than North.” However, not everyone who wants to watch these games, are able to. This is where our broadcasting students usually come in handy. However, this year, due to the loss of Mr. Terry Schircel, our school station will not be broadcasting it. Our new broadcasting teacher will be broadcasting it on the community channel, WSCS. “We already beat them, so I’m excited to watch our teams do it again” explained senior Andy Wildman. For continued updates on the games, stay tuned to our twitter page @shs_lakebreeze or our publications website lakebreezepublications.wordpress.com. Story by Ashley Brunette/Photo by Alisha Ziegler