Donkey Basketball at West Branch was a thrilling event that brought laughter and excitement to people of all ages. It was a big turnout for the PBS program, with over 500 people in attendance and roughly $2,000 raised. The night featured three games: Juniors vs. Seniors, Juniors vs. Student Teachers, and Seniors vs. Staff.

The night started off with students from kindergarten through third grade singing the National Anthem. Afterward, there were walkout songs for all players, which they picked for themselves, kicking off the hype for the games. The three games were very entertaining, even though there weren’t many points scored because some donkeys were more cooperative than others.

The first game started off rough because the donkeys wouldn’t let some players onto their backs and would kick players off. Craig Fluck sat under the basket to score the first shot of the night, with an assist from Sarah Guglielmi. Chelsey Weseskey then scored, making the score 4–0 after a switch in donkeys. The juniors made many shot attempts, but none of them seemed to fall. During the first intermission, there was a chance for kids to ride the donkeys, guided by players.

The second game featured the juniors against the elementary student teachers, with some substitutions from the staff. There were many shot attempts from both the juniors and student teachers, though some donkeys still didn’t cooperate with the players. After a substitution for the juniors, Justin Koleno made a hook shot from the free-throw line to score the only shot of the game, making the score 2–0.

The second intermission included Casey Goodrow kissing a donkey. To choose who kissed the donkey, select staff had a can, and whoever had the most money by the end of the competition was chosen.

The third game started with Adam Carr winning the tip-off, giving the staff the ball. Shortly after, there were fast breaks to the basket from both teams. Unfortunately, none of the teams scored off of them. After an assist from Lukas Colton, Joel Evans made a shot to make the score 2–0. Then, right after, Evans had an assist to Colton to make it 4–0. At the last second, Chad Koleno made a hook shot to bring the final score to 4–2.

C. Koleno, who managed the event, comments,

Donkey Basketball was a huge success for West Branch, and hopefully, it comes back for years to come.