For the first time in middle school, 6th graders got to experience the annual Survivor Ball Tournament. In this tournament, you donate money to the school, which ends up going to the American Heart Association.  

After the semi-finals, the Purple Mustaches and The Weirdos faced off in the girls’ championship. In the end, The Weirdos defeated the Purple Mustaches.

Danielle, a Weirdo, said that the championship was “exciting, but nerve racking at the same time.”

In the boys’ division, the team, We Take No L’s, defeated the Goats in an exciting game. It was eventually capped off by a game winning catch by Brady E.

Ten players on one side, two on the other. Three minutes later… all ten players are sitting on the bench.

In probably the biggest upset in DCIS history, Madhav P. and Isaiah D. (the only members of the Mean Dream Team) survived the first round of the annual Survivor Ball Tournament against the Sprite Cranberries.

Right when the Mean Dream Team walked onto the court, they were thinking ‘We’re gonna lose. We’re gonna lose. We’re gonna lose.’ But they won.

With 8 Sprite Cranberries left, Madhav was eliminated and it seemed that all hope was lost. The crowd quickly hushed. However, Isaiah kept throwing at the cranberries, he managed to stay alive while getting them out. And then, he rescued his teammate by catching a dodgeball with only 5 more to eliminate. That was when Isaiah realized ‘We might win.’ With the crowd on their feet, Isaiah and Madhav managed to scrape out the win. The bleachers emptied as everyone crowded the legends who etched their name into the school’s history books.

That first kill was what got “their momentum going” and they wanted to get revenge on their previous teammates, who “were traitors” and were on the other team. During lunch, Madhav was given another standing ovation and the 7th graders chanted MVP for Isaiah. They said that it “felt good [but] embarrassing” to have a standing ovation.

On the second day, the Flaming Hot Chili Peppers and the Familia won the tournament. Blah blah blah. Who cares, the Mean Dream Team was the real winners.

After two years of experience, the 8th graders looked sharp out on the court. They could zip the ball, duck down, dodge and spin to try and win the game. In the end, only four teams would make it to the championship, two for the boys, and two for the girls.

In the girls championship, the Benchwarmers 2.0 and the Skater Bois faced off. This game started off kind of slow, but then got right into the action. Slowly, the Skater Bois’ numbers decreased. Then there was only one Skater Boi left. She tried to win it for her team, but could not succeed.

After the game, the last Skater Boi left said “I was insane, I was scared. I was like ‘oh if I lose I am gonna lose for my team.’ But I was just kept pushing through, I didn’t let that distract me. I just kept going, and forgot about that, and I just wanted to win.”

One of the Benchwarmers, Savana B., said this after the game. “We came out here to have fun, we didn’t know that we would win, so it just felt good.” She also said “we were so excited. We were just jumping all over, and we just felt amazing.”

The Lil’ Daddies and the Kool Aid Jammers played against one another in the boys championship. This game started off quick, in which everyone except one person was eliminated from the Kool Aid Jammers in one minute and twenty-five seconds. With only one Kool Aid Jammer left, Lorenzo A., there seemed to be no hope. He and the other team stood around for a bit, but eventually Kevin R. caught a ball thrown by Lorenzo to secure the win for the Lil’ Daddies.

With the last Survivor Ball Tournament for these 8th graders, they can now reminisce on their three years of memories.