St. Thomas athletics hosted a tipoff event called “Hoops Hysteria” for the men and women’s basketball teams Wednesday at Schoenecker Arena.
The event was all about fun and games as it included shooting competitions, a skills challenge and scrimmages from both teams. The emphasis for the night was raising fan excitement for the upcoming season.
“I think Hoops Hysteria is a special night because it marks the opening of the season,” men’s basketball coach John Tauer said. “It gives fans a chance to come out and meet the players to sort of see what’s to come for the year.”
After introductions of the two squads, the night began with a three-point contest. Each team put its best shooters behind the arc, with first-year guard Amber Scalia besting fifth-year guard Riley Miller in the championship.
Scalia hopes to carry this stellar shooting into the season in order to help her team on the court.
“I think when it’s my time, I know that’s my strength,” Scalia said. “That’s what I can do to help my team.”
A skills challenge followed the three-point contest. Players displayed their speed, ball-handling and shooting that they worked on in the offseason.
The spectacle of the night was the dunk contest featuring several men’s players. After several alley-oops and 360s, it was first-year guard Kendall Blue’s windmill dunk that sealed his victory.
Tauer attributed a lot of the strength and athleticism shown by the dunkers to the offseason work they did in the weight room.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the work that the guys do all year in the weight room,” Tauer said. “Alli Barthel is our strength and conditioning coach, and she does an unbelievable job with our guys. If you look from where they were a year ago to now, it’s really impressive.”
The final event of the night was a scrimmage from each squad. This was an opportunity for the teams to show fans what to expect from the season, as well as put on a show. Senior forward Brooks Allen wants this final season opener to be one to remember.
“What you want as a competitor is to play the best teams,” Allen said. “You want to play your best, and you want to play in the best environments, and I think that’s the opportunity we have Nov. 7 against Creighton.”
The men’s basketball team heads to Omaha to take on Creighton Nov. 7. The women start their season away at Northern Iowa the same day.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.