The boys varsity basketball team will play in Dallas at the American Airlines Center on Saturday, December 8 at one pm. They will be playing Mabank High School, and fans can stay for the Mavericks-Rockets game later that evening at five.

“We’re so excited,” head coach Chris Grotemat said. “It’s a really competitive thing.”

The Mavericks have a program called “The Court of Dreams,” and each year they allow Texas high school teams to come play at their arena on a few Mavericks home games. The Mavs use a lottery system to select the teams. Last year, the team applied but was not selected. However, they applied again last spring and were selected for this upcoming season.

“When I first heard that we were going to be playing at the American Airlines Arena I was in utter shock,” senior Connery Churchill said. “I couldn’t believe that we were going to be playing in a NBA arena for my senior year.”

The doors for the high school game will open at 12:30, and for the Lindale game, fans will be able to sit as close to the court as they can get. For the Mavs-Rockets game following our game, there are pre-arranged seats where all the Lindale fans will sit together.

“[Fans] can maybe sneak down to the court to take a picture or two to commemorate the event,” Grotemat said. “The Mavs-Rockets game is a big rivalry game. There’s a lot of excitement around the [Mavs-Rockets] game to begin with, so the fact that we get to use the floor and change in the same locker rooms, and use all the Mavericks facilities beforehand, it’s really exciting for us.”

Ticket forms are available in the high school front or athletic office, and tickets are $29 each. The high school twirlers and drill team will perform at the halftime of the game as well.

“[Tickets] are selling quickly, so if anyone wants to get a ticket, I’d encourage them to do so quickly, and come out and support us,” Grotemat said. “We tried to make it as much an event for our entire high school as we can and not just the boys basketball program.”

The boys will come together to play as a team at this once in a lifetime opportunity. The boys’ family and friends, along with community members will cheer on the boys in this upcoming endeavor.

“The thing I am most looking forward to about this game is getting to experience such a great honor with my team,” Churchill said. “I think the best part about playing in the game will be getting to look out into the stands and see all of our fans supporting us at what is the biggest stage in the game of basketball.”