“They were always the team to beat in years past, even while my mom was in school, so beating them is an achievement,” he said. “They were always the better team back then but now we have developed a better team this year. It isn’t that tense on the court, we just kind of play and have fun.”
Most of the players spoke about the rivalry making them want to play better, with very few expressing any particular animosity toward the other team. Heavenly Rayford is in a unique position to discuss the rivalry; the Goldbacks’ junior spent her sophomore year playing for the Tigers before transferring back to Newburgh at the beginning of the current school year.
“Playing on both teams gave me a big perspective on the rivalry,” Rayford said. “I hadn’t heard of them not liking Kingston until I went to high school. Each team hated every sport’s team on Kingston, and when I moved to Kingston they hated Newburgh just as much. I’ve played for both teams and they both have good and bad qualities.”
Rematches next week
The Tigers and Goldbacks have one more matchup during the regular season, with the girls’ teams playing in Kingston on Tuesday, Feb. 7 and the boys’ teams playing in Newburgh the following evening. While security in both gyms will be beefed up, at present there are no plans for either game to be played before an empty house. Still, that’s a possibility in the future.
“If student safety is going to be an issue at these basketball games, we’re going to have to take whatever steps we have to take to ensure this isn’t happening,” said Padalino. “Coaches and officials can handle 10 players on the court, but they can’t handle a thousand fans if they’re not there behaving appropriately. That’s an extreme case of closing the gym, but if we can’t put an end to this that has to be an option that we look at.”
For most of the players, a game with no fans is an inconceivable option.
“I don’t agree with the no-fans rule,” said Kingston’s Lauren Kwasnowski. “The rivalry is a tradition and would be lost without the hype of the crowd. Security was able to control the crowd at our home court for the boys’ game, and I believe it won’t be a problem for us. The baiting and cheering of the crowd is what causes the adrenaline rush and makes the game more intense.”
Kingston’s Justin Robinson agreed.
“If we had no fans, it would be boring,” he said. “They make the game more fun and exciting. It would be like practice if we didn’t have fans. I would hate that.”
Newburgh’s Jarrod Scurlock, who’s battled Kingston on the basketball court for his entire high school athletic career, also didn’t favor the notion of closing the doors for the game.
“I think to not let fans in a game is just showing that schools have no control,” he said. “That’s dumb. People will know how to behave and hopefully we’ll have no problems and a good game. That’s all it should come down to. I respect Kingston and I’m pretty sure they respect us.”
Kingston’s Shantyce Brodhead equated removing the fans from the equation with removing another key element from another sport.
“Not playing with fans is like a swimmer swimming without water in the pool,” she said. “Our fans set the tone of the game for us, so I think it’s pointless to eliminate them.”
