Mehlville Teachers Roll with the Rams

In a stunning display of skill, the Mehlville High School teachers took on the St. Louis Rolling Rams wheelchair basketball team and almost won in overtime. The last three years that the teachers took on the basketball pros, they lost by a large margin of points.

The National Honor Society organized the game as a fundraiser for the Rolling Rams, who must pay for travel to their games and tournaments.  Two Mehlville alumni are part of the Rams: Andrew Bush and Assistant Coach Michael Grelle.

The pep band provided a constant soundtrack to the game and the Majorettes, Mehlville Hockey Cheerleaders and Pantherettes performed at halftime and in between quarters. 

After a warm-up against players from the boys varsity basketball team, the Rams took on the teachers. The wheelchair basketball newbies started off strong; the game was tied 10-10 at the end of the first.

English teacher Mary Eilerman provided witty and snarky commentary to the game, often poking fun at the teachers' losing reputation. In fact, the teachers scored more in the first quarter than they had in the previous three years' games combined, according to Eilerman. The losing attitude was even printed on the team t-shirts, "Four score and three losses ago..."

Although the competition was meant for fun, the teachers made it exciting by tying the game 20-20 with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Another basket by each team sent the game into a two-minute overtime. However, the teachers were ultimately put down when Bush scored the winning goal, allowing the Rams to win 24-22.