***This article was written by Alisha Chaidez, a participant of The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program, funded by the Harry Anderson Memorial Trust.

On Tuesday night, the Flying Geese boys basketball team fell to the Brimfield Indians at home, with a fun half-time shootout that raised money for the Children’s Hospital of Illinois.

The game kicked off with a strong layup made by sophomore Alejandro Garcia, shortly followed by a layup made by junior Collin Hodge. The Indians responded strongly, increasing the score to 11-16 by the end of the first quarter and 16-24 by the end of the first half. 

During halftime, the Mrs. World festival organization had a shootout, raising money to buy toys for the Children’s Hospital of Illinois. 

“This is our 13th year raising money. We had a raffle put together, which was full of donations. We also had a shootout, which was one dollar per shot. We laid candy out on the court, and people shot from wherever they chose. If they made it, they kept it,” said Miss World Festival Queen Eva Ceja. 

The Geese started off the second half with a three-pointer swished by Junior Kruz Galbraith. The Indians once again instantly responded and were on fire. 

The motivation stayed throughout the rest of the half, making the final score 55-37. Wethersfield had a push during the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to come back. 

The leading scorers for the varsity game were Hodge with 15, followed by Garcia and Galbraith, both with seven. 

The rebound leader was Galbraith with seven. Galbraith has been consistently dominating the backboard with rebounds for the Flying Geese for the past games. 

Both senior Drew Hornback and Garcia had three assists. 

The junior varsity game went similarly to the varsity game, with their first regular-season game loss. The final score for the JV game was 31-17.