By Marc Thaler
Staff Writer

With the help of jump shots from Mountain View Middle School eighth-grader Alex "A-Train" Stoyle, the students prevailed in the second annual students vs. staff charity basketball game, 58-50. After all the pregame trash talking, Assistant Principal Fred Deppe, seen here unable to stop Stoyle, admitted during the trophy presentation that the students were the superior squad. To see a photo of resource officer Chuck Nickerson attempting to boost the score while wearing a woman's hat, see page A-12. (Marc Thaler Photo)

It's not every day students have the opportunity to show their teachers who's boss.

The chance was given to a handful of eighth-grade hoopsters at Mountain View Middle School on Wednesday, Feb. 16. There, 24 boys and girls tried to prove that, although the classroom might be the teachers' turf, the basketball court is their kingdom.

Playing in front of a packed gymnasium, the student all-star team succeeded, winning the second annual Staff vs. Students Basketball Classic, 58- 50.

"For all the trash talking, all the things we said, we will admit we were beaten by a better team, better coaches, better players," said MVMS Assistant Principal Fred Deppe during the post-game trophy presentation to the opposition.

The charity contest benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a collective decision made by the school's student body.

But the charity stopped there. These student-athletes weren't interested in giving their competition any ideas of pulling out a victory.

"They were horrible," said a smiling Katie Lee, one of the eighth-grade girls. "All they did was foul because they ain't got no game."

The event's format featured an all-male first quarter followed by an all-female second.

The second half was completely co-ed competition.

Regardless, the faculty couldn't find an advantage. For a full 48 minutes, the student all-stars capitalized on their quickness. "They need a little bit more practice when they're gonna mess with the boys' and girls' teams," said Dunbarton's Alex Hickey. "What we did to them, I wouldn't even call that fair." In truth, there was only one thing that wasn't fair – the amount of teacher trickery that took place.

MVMS resource officer Chuck Nickerson admitted he tried his best to manufacture an unfair advantage – putting on a woman's bonnet so he could play during the all-female second quarter of the students vs. staff charity hoops contest. Still, the attempt did little to help the teachers, who lost, 58-50, on Wednesday, Feb. 16. (Marc Thaler Photo)

After the men were mowed down by their younger counterparts in the first quarter, 20-9, the faculty's female all-stars employed the "ol' sixth-womanon- the-court" technique in the second frame.

MVMS curriculum coordinator MaryClaire Barry – listed as her team's analytical guru in the game program – posted her powerful frame in the paint, hoping to help her five teammates take charge.

The six-on-five wrinkle added into the faculty game plan did little. The students stayed silky smooth.

"These students were honest," said MVMS math teacher Natalie Archey. "They were given the opportunity to get an A in math if they let me get a basket. They said, ‘No deal.'" When it was clear Barry's basketball brilliance was nullified, officer Chuck Nickerson disguised himself in a woman's bonnet and broke loose onto the court.

"We tried to do the ol' changea- roo on them, but that didn't quite help," said Nickerson, the school's resource officer. "It didn't work out as well as we'd planned. We could've cheated even more and they still would've beaten us."

Still, the teachers took charge in the third, trimming a 32-26 halftime deficit to three points heading into the fourth quarter. The faculty pulled to within one point on several occasions. The go-ahead hoops just wouldn't fall.

Down 48-47 with 5:52 remaining in regulation, the teachers allowed the student allstars to go on a backbreaking 10-3 run that closed out the contest. Alex Stoyle was one of many players who let his game do the talking on the court. Of course, after the final buzzer, it was a different story entirely.

"The ‘A-train' came out here and rolled all over the faculty," he said, arms raised in victory. "We didn't bring our ‘Agame' tonight," said Goffstown High School biology teacher and MVMS girls hoops coach Katie Schlender. "A few more practices as a team definitely would've helped.

"The nerves got to us," Schlender added. "Definitely the nerves."