On Monday night, the stands at the Memorial Gym were packed with a spirited crowd — many of whom arrived expecting a student four-peat. What they couldn’t have known was that just across the wooden floors, the Faculty team was feeling good. 

Players were hydrated, stretching had begun the night before, fingers were taped, ankles were wrapped… A new air of confidence had found this team, thanks in no small part to some changes at the front office.

This year’s squad was led by first-time head coach Daniel “Randy” Randazzo ’27. He had an experienced partner-in-crime in former head coach Landon Allis ’23, who now sat on the bench as the team’s General Manager. Allis had worked tirelessly over the last year week to assemble a roster best-suited to stop the students’ quest for an elusive four-peat — a streak he’d unfortunately witnessed the start of as the losing coach of the Faculty team those three winters ago.

At the other bench, a spry team of 15 Rec All-Stars, led by a trio of coaches Caz Badynee ’26, Jayden Kersh ’26 and Ben Ross ’26, were feeling amped for the big intergenerational showdown. They felt confident that their youth, speed and versatility would prove too valiant a test for a team armed with compression sleeves and Bengay.

The first quarter of the game began as expected, and it looked like the students’ pace might be too much. They ran. They soared. They fast-broke. Deep threes rained down from sharp shooters Evan Williams ’26 and Kenneth Arter ’26, while feisty defensive outputs from Gordy Dix ’26 and Ryan Kosco ’27 quelled some early scoring attempts from the elder opposition. 

The sounds of heavy feet and breathing showed that the faculty would be forced to adjust their pace…strategically.

Then came the first collective gasp of the evening, occurring in the opening quarter when one of the Faculty’s cornerstone players took a spill. For that brief moment, time stood still. The bench was stunned silent, helplessly looking for the athletic trainers, awaiting a sign from their starting center Mr. Chris Ciambarella that he’d be healthy enough to return.

As quietly and self-assured as he plays on the court, with a small laugh and an assuring nod, “Chamby” signaled that he was alright, and the Rec All-Stars would need more than a tough shoulder to shake him. 

He would return to the floor, and end the game with a double-digit performance, proving that gravity may win a battle, but experience wins the war.

Taking no mercy, the All-Stars would continue to push the tempo, looking to overwhelm the faculty with transition buckets and high-flying confidence. And early on, it worked. The students ran. The Faculty… jogged.

But between the jogging, timeouts, adjustments and ‘inventive’ play-calling, somehow and some way, the Faculty would find their rhythm.

A stirring half-time speech from Head of School Suzanne Walker Buck, perhaps somewhat inspired from her recent adventure to the West Coast for All-Star Weekend, had the team feeling ready to school their foe. A barrage of basketball vernacular — “box out,” “protect the paint,” something about a “strong side,” and “finish through contact” — followed by a rousing final “Woo-hoo” had the squad of educators well-prepared and refreshed for another intense 16 minutes of basketball.

(Truth be told, they may not have actually understood most of it, but the energy was certainly palpable regardless. And the team emerged for the second half ready to defend both the rim and their dignity.)

While the All-Stars attacked the rim, the Faculty — unwilling to sacrifice ligaments to the youthful stylings of the opposition — thoughtfully attacked mismatches. The students sprinted, whereas the Faculty positioned themselves. Even though the rowdy crowd roared for acrobatic drives and shots ‘from the logo,’ the Faculty quietly set screens, ran overloads and knocked down mid-range jumpers like a varsity letter was on the line.

Still, the students surged and built a ten point advantage lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

Head Coach “Randy,” locked into his clipboard and vision, remained unfazed — largely because he was reading the scoreboard backwards. The deficit went unnoticed. Panic never entered the huddle. 

And perhaps that was the advantage.

Because while the coach believed the team was comfortably ahead, the Faculty locked in as if everything was on the line. They slowed the game to a half-court chess match. They rotated defensively with precision. They passed up good shots for better ones. They shot their free throws with focus, understanding the value of efficiency and patience.

Queue the comeback.

In a true team effort, Mr. Matt Shields and Mr. Liam McMahon knocked down back-to-back shots that shifted momentum. Ms. Hannah Barry and Mr. Thomas Adams-Wall battled in the paint, proving that box-outs are undefeated. Mr. Nick Stahl put up threes with confidence, providing crucial points off the bench.

Mr. Jacob Simmons, starting guard for the Faculty, absorbed what can only be described as relentless defensive attention — triple-teamed, bumped, crowded on nearly every touch. But in the fourth quarter, he found another gear. He finished through contact, stared down defenders after buckets and imposed his will, possession by possession, turning pressure into production when it mattered most.

What the All-Stars had in speed, the Faculty countered with angles. Hops were countered with footwork, and youth was met with the kind of audacity that only experience could bring.

By the final minutes, the gym understood what was unfolding: the four-peat was slipping away.

When the final buzzer sounded, the scoreboard confirmed it: the Faculty had done it, pulling off a stunning 62-57 comeback victory.

The win was not flashy. It was not fast. It certainly was not high-flying.

But much like our faculty, it was gritty, deliberate, fundamentally sound and passionate.

And it was enough.

The Rec All-Stars will regroup, and certainly come out looking for vengeance next year.

But this time, wisdom prevailed, and the dynasty was denied.

And in varied homes across the WRA campus, recovery regiments of Ibuprofen and ice packs were applied with pride.

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