It was unbelievable, it was the most exciting thing I have ever done in athletics,” said senior Joey Cooner after making the post-buzzer free throws that brought about an 81-80 Courtwarming victory over the Osage Indians.

After the win, students flooded the court and celebrated what became the highlight of the annual Courtwarming festivities.

“It was epic, one of the top finishes I have ever been a part of,” said basketball coach Jared Wallace. “It was good for the whole student body, I was proud of the boys and very happy that the students got to share that experience with them.”

During the last second of the game, Cooner was fouled and went to the line where he scored two consecutive free throws to put the boys up by one point and won the game for the Wildcats. Afterwards, the court was stormed by fans in arguably one of the most exciting victories in Warsaw basketball history.

“Our boys balled all over them, that game was amazing,” said senior Amber Gillham.

“That game put everyone on the edge of their seats,” said senior Jesse Stantorf.

Courtwarming brought a different type of excitement to the court when seniors Lane England and Jessica Kuykendall were crowned King and Queen and juniors Austin McCall and Kylie McRoberts were crowned Prince and Princess in a ceremony between the Junior Varsity and Varsity basketball games. Other candidates included king candidates Joey Cooner and Tyler Dority, queen candidates Brooklyn Spencer and Chelsea McCall, prince candidates Jonathan Plybon and Michael Kephart, and princess candidates Kaitlyn Laue and Taylor Goetz.

“I was surprised that I won king,” said England

“Winning queen made my senior year more memorable,” said Kuykendall.

There was also excitement throughout the week off the court as students participated in spirit week and competed as a class to win the coveted “most spirit.” The points system for spirit week that was developed and put into place for the week of Homecoming was also used for Courtwarming to ensure that every class had an equal opportunity to be pronounced most spirited. Seeking redemption after losing to the junior class during Homecoming, the senior class stepped up and took back their spot at the top when they won most spirited class for Courtwarming, and got to duct tape physical education teacher Kasey Tittlemier to the bleachers.

“I’m happy the seniors won because it is their last year, but I was really happy with all the sophomores participation,” said sophomore Ashlyn Yoder.

“We showed those losers what for,” said senior Zach Long.

“We are the best. That’s all there is to it. We wake up, we’re the best. If you ain’t first you’re last,” said senior Luke Spry.

During each day of spirit week there were multiple winners selected. On pajama day, winners were junior Thane Henderson and senior Melissa Pierce. On twin day, winning sets of twins were senior Zach Swiger and sophomore Ashlyn Yoder, who dressed as Luke and Lea Skywalker, and juniors Rickie Branson and Claudia Schmitz, who dressed as conjoined twins. On nerd day, the winners were senior Zach Long and sophomore Ashlyn Yoder. On injured character day the winners were sophomore Frank McMillin, who dressed as the Mad Hatter and freshman Mikayla Andrews, who dressed as Mary Poppins. On blackout day, the winners were sophomores Michael Peirce and Ashlyn Yoder. There was also an overall spirit category which was won by senior Zach Swiger and sophomore Ashlyn Yoder.

 “I love spirit week and I always win,” said Yoder.