Basketball hosts its annual Midnight Madness event Wednesday night at 6 p.m. at The Nest to commence the beginning of winter sports: basketball, wrestling, and swim/dive.

“It’s really just to bring excitement to the upcoming season and also honor some of those other sports,” girls’ head basketball coach Ross Reedy said. “Swim is getting going and wrestling is getting going, and then us particularly we been able to have some exciting years on the hard wood both for the boys and girls. It’s really just to get going for this new season, not only is it a change in season but going from those fall sports to winter.”

The event kicks off the start of the 2023-2024 season, with a skit from wrestling, boys and girls basketball playing a scrimmage following performances by the cheer and Red Rhythm.

“The Red Rhythm dance team learned a hip hop routine in the summer at camp that is specifically designed and performed at Midnight Madness,” Red Rhythm director Nicole Nothe said. “They think it’s a fun community event so they wanted the dance to be a lot of fun and full of energy and be able to entertain and get the crowd pumped for the basketball season.”

For sophomore girls’ basketball player Jaci Abii, Midnight Madness is a reminder that the season is about to start. 

“To me Midnight Madness is the deadline and it means this is the last time just playing around,” she said. “After this it’s time to lock into the season and start the journey to state.”

On the other hand, sophomore boys’ basketball player Gilburt Aluga feels like the event is a chance to prove himself to the community.

“I’m excited to just show everyone in the school what we have coming up,” Aluga said. “ And that even though it’s a rebuilding year for us, we are still going to be a great team. It’s just like an opportunity before the season [to show] everyone how our season is going to go.”