The roar of the crowd filled up the arena as Eagle High vs. Owyhee High fought for the Battle for the Bolt. This event has four basketball games against the two schools, boys’ JV, girls’ JV, girls’ varsity and finally, boys’ varsity.
The Battle for the Bolt is a traditional rivalry where Eagle High play Owyhee High in basketball every year, but the stakes are higher than just the game. There is a bolt trophy that is given to the school with the best school spirit, cheers and dance, meaning the student sections are loud and cheering for every second. Each section earns a certain number of points that leads to the judges scoring.
The games have been going on for four years, making this year the fifth. In the past, Eagle High has won the bolt once while Owyhee High has won it three times, but sophomore Aiden Kindrick believed his team and his skills would be able to flip the script this year.
“I think we just need to play together, for each other and play our basketball. Then at the end of the game, will look up at the score and be happy with the outcome,” Kindrick said prior to the game.
In the varsity girls’ game, the score wasn’t even close with the Eagle High girls winning 69-27. The overall reason they were doing so well was because they were making smart passes and taking the right shots. Senior Caleb Zawadzki was there and knows why they dominated.
“They had great ball movement and had great defense helping them win… They also had help from the crowd and used that as momentum,” Zawadzki said.
In the varsity boys’ game, it was a tough one. Going into the second half, it was neck and neck with the score only being a few point difference, but during the third quarter Owyhee High started to make a pull and Eagle High couldn’t stop them, leading to an Owyhee High win with the score 54-37.
The bolt trophy was also a very close decision. It was a split decision out of three judges; one judge was for Eagle High, and the other two were for Owyhee High. Owyhee High won the Battle of the Bolt. All in all, the crowds were excited and the games were fun. Although Owyhee High won the bolt and the boys’ varsity game, the Eagle High girls showed up and won.
