By Bob Cohen
Members of the New England Patriots Celebrity Basketball team took on an impressive lineup of King Philip faculty, business owners, and local elementary school students at the high school gym Tuesday night. While the football players scored the most points, the winner of the night was the KP Booster Club, the host of the first annual Patriot Celebrity Basketball event.
Before the opening tip-off, the MC led the crowd in a solemn tribute to the Boston Marathon bombing victims Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell, and Lu Lingzi , the 264 injured and MIT Police Officer Sean Collier who was shot during the manhunt for the bombing suspects.
The KP community showed its Boston Strong mettle by following the example set by Bruins fans at the April 17 game against the Buffalo Sabres when it did its own unaccompanied rendition of the National Anthem.
In true New England spirit, once the game began, the fans cheered loudly and gave their attention to the matter at hand.
The KP All-Stars roster included vice-principal John Gould, social studies teacher Andy Connors, boys varsity coach and Division I basketball player Tim Clifford, children’s book author Jeff Kinney of Plainville, oral surgeon Bob Moskal, and students Adian Bender, Jacob Mingles, and Brad and Will Kinney.
Cornerbacks Kyle Arrington and Aqib Talib, defensive back Devon McCourty, tight end Daniel Fells, running back Shane Vereen, and retired quarterback and Wrentham resident, Scott Zolak, represented the Patriots’ honor and were joined by Ian Zimmerman and Wrentham firefighter Bobby Holst.
The KP All-Stars jumped to an early lead. They traded buckets with the Pats and managed to end a 19 – 17 first quarter within two points of the lead.
KP’s offensive output dropped in the second quarter scoring 14 points as they played and amiable foil to the Pats athletic pyrotechnics who added another 25 on the scoreboard to end the quarter 44 – 31.
At half time the MC cranked up the music as event goers queued up at the autograph tables, which also included Kinney who is best known for the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series of books and movies.
The autograph session was very well managed. That atmosphere was festive and the lines moved quickly. People had more than enough time to get signatures from all six Patriots and Jeff Kinney.
The start of the third quarter for KP set the Kinney boys, Jeff, Will, and Brad and CJ Parker and Andy Connor against Zolak, Arrington, Talib, McCourty, and the offensive surprise of the night Zimmerman who played all four quarters and whose double digit scoring effort put a smile on everyone’s face.
At the end of the third quarter the MC held a drawing for the raffle and announced the winners. Spectators paid a dollar a ticket for an opportunity to win one of several footballs signed by all the Patriots attending the event. With the music cranked up, the winners were called out onto the court to receive their prize by airmail. All the Pats took a turn at hucking the ball to smiling fans. The game ended in a flurry of alley-oops and dunks with a final score of 91 to 72.
KP Boosters hosted the event to “Fund our scholarships and special projects,” according to a letter from Board President Patty Bingel and members Kelly Foxx, Arthur Keegan, and Carysue Hogan.
Recent projects include donations for scoreboards and banners, equipment purchases, batting cages, and the practice fields. They also hope to raise money for an artificial turf field.