Wizards event another slam dunk
Harlem Wizards take on NPSD Dream team in 3rd annual event
Flyin’ High! A Harlem Wizard dunk was show stopper on Saturday night at NPHS.
TOWAMENCIN – There was some wizardry on display at North Penn, and it had nothing to do with Harry Potter books.
On this particular night it was basketball wizardry that stole the show. On Saturday, January 30th, the Harlem Wizards came to North Penn to dazzle a crowd of nearly 1,300 and go up against the North Penn 2016 “Dream Team” for the third time.
The atmosphere was almost Madison-Square Garden-esque as the Wizards emerged from the smoke and the crowd roared. It was difficult to see who the Home team really was.
The Wizards had captured the crowd’s attention from the moment they entered the court and started the game off with some flashy passing. They finished the play with an Alley-Oop dunk on the first possession of the game, which got the crowd to their feet.
Harlem Wizards shenanigans often include getting young crowd members involved in the action as shown here.
During the first half, occasionally they would get the crowd involved and run into the stands choosing people and bringing them out onto the court to dance, shoot hoops, or play games. And at one point they even had a fake baby with silly string to spray. Nobody could tell what the Wizards had up their sleeve and they seemed to always have a new unpredictable thing to dazzle the crowd with next, including a barrage of dunks and flashy passes to show off their basketball skills and keep the lead against the NP Staff Dream Team.
At halftime the score was 46-19 Wizards and during the intermission the NP Dance team performed their routine in front of the crowd.
During the second half, after a half court dance party with the Wizards and some crowd members, the Dream Team started to make their comeback with the help of the crowd (and ten points a basket) and it was knotted at 74 at the start of the fourth, but ultimately even that wasn’t enough to defeat the high flying Wizards, who ended up coming out on top, winning the game and the heart of the home crowd through their perfect balance of comedy and raw basketball skill.
“I loved it, they did a great job and had us entertained the whole time.” said an excited crowd member.
Dream Team Head Coach Gino Santoro returned this year despite his winless streak.
“[The Wizards] just got back from Jordan overseas” said Jordan “Flight” Southerland, a first year member of the Harlem Wizards, who always wanted to play basketball in high school but never got the chance until now. For those aspiring to become better basketball players, performers, or a little of both he also said “practice a lot and keep working at it, no matter if you fail or someone tells you you’re not good enough, as long as you keep working at it and put the time in, your dreams will come true.”
After the buzzer sounded and the fourth quarter ended, the Wizards held a dance party for everyone on the court and answered questions, signed autographs and of course took selfies.
Not only did everyone have a blast at this event with the NP Dream Team vs the Harlem Wizards, but the profits from the entire event are benefiting the girls’ athletics programs at the high school.
