As cheers rose in the gym, fierce competition took place during the annual student versus staff basketball game, acting as the kickoff event for the National Honor Society (NHS) Thirst Project, on Friday, March 27, with staff taking home the win 38-31.

The Thirst Project is a nonprofit that funds water supply in developing countries. NHS fundraises for the Thirst Project annually over the course of a week, beginning with the student versus staff basketball game, transitioning into WarriorFest, and ending with the Powderpuff game.

“Since NHS is about service and giving back to the community, the Thirst Project is a big highlight of our chapter where we can commit to a big project and raise funds for undeserved communities,” NHS President Sarah Jung ‘26 said.

The boys’ basketball team competed with the teachers on the staff team while student volunteers competed on the students team. Though the game had free attendance, it served to increase audience engagement for the remainder of the Thirst Project. The fundraising portion lies in WarriorFest and Powderpuff through attendance fees and t-shirt sales.

“NHS is built on the four pillars, scholarship, leadership, character, and service,” Jung said. “Especially for Westwood, the majority of upperclassmen are involved in NHS, and that’s also a way they can get involved in different school organizations. Throughout the year, we’ve been doing small, individual events, but we wanted something that can bring our whole chapter together and take initiative as a chapter in a big service project.”

To start off the game, Mr. Matt McBrearty made the first past to Mr. Bryan Branch whose shot bounced off the rim. Caleb Hwang ‘26 took advantage of the missed shot and finished strong through the basket. Landon DelBello ‘26 and Mr. Branch worked together, moving the ball quickly to break through the staff defense. Meanwhile, the staff strengthened on every mistake, turning steals and rebounds into points. With under a minute left in the first quarter, Marshall Sjariffudin ‘27 struck gold, pushing the score to 7-4 with the students leading. The first quarter ended with students leading 9-4.

“I saw that a shot was obviously going to be missed and that someone else could rebound it easily,” Sjariffudin said. “I would just run up court first so that we could try and get quick buckets, especially since it was a big time crunch.”

Varsity basketball seniors Charlie Fry and Luke Carpenter strived to keep the momentum alive for the staff, answering to the ball every time the students scored. Sjariffudin fought for rebounds and Aiden Shen ‘26 pressured the ball, but the staff started to get in control. As the second quarter ended, staff led 20-14.

“I think because there’s varsity boys on the [staff] team, defense was definitely a big part, and the game is just super fast-paced, just running back and forth,” Sandali Gangwar ‘26 said. “We were just not passing the ball enough, so we were trying to not take shots that we couldn’t make.”

During the third quarter, DelBello pushed the pace while driving down the court. Mr. McBrearty stayed active on both sides of the court, fighting for the ball and looking for openings.

“I was trying to not sprain any muscles during the game and thankfully I didn’t.” Mr. McBrearty said. “We showed a lot of heart and charisma and I loved the game.”

Missed free throws, close shots that rolled off the rim, and constant battles for possession of the ball defined the second half of the game. Hwang scored points where he could, aiming to keep the students within reach as they lagged 28-20. Still, the staff maintained their lead. Despite lagging behind, students took an opportunity at the end of third quarter to score and close the third quarter 38-28.

“We were fortunate to have some of the varsity guys help us out, and they can run up and down all day,” Mr. Michael Wuensch said. “I’m going to plan a little differently next year and try to be in a little bit better shape.”

By the final minutes of the fourth quarter, both teams were exhausted. The students kept pushing, diving for steals and taking quick shots as they hoped for a late comeback. As the time on the clock plummeted, Sjariffudin scored the last point for the students, however, this late push was not enough as the students fell short 38-31 to end the student versus staff basketball game.

“Before we started the game, we were asking teachers to participate in the game, but a lot of teachers declined so we asked for some varsity boys’ basketball players to also participate in the staff team,” Jung said. “I did kind of expect that the staff team would be a bit better, but the student team also did really well for subbing out people. Overall, it was a pretty tight game.”