They’re On Fireball: The Fireballz — a rec basketball team made up of junior boys — pride themselves in having fun over basketball skills

Lining up his toes on the three-point line, aiming to shoot the ball, junior Alex Flower smirked as the ball approached the hoop — confident in his mediocre basketball skills. The crowd of Flower’s closest friends hollered and cheered from the stands.

The ball missed any kind of contact with the basket or backboard by a foot. But Flower didn’t care — the only thing at stake was his dignity. And despite his airball, the massive, roaring and adoring crowd — that consisted of about 10 people — still went wild.

The Fireballz — a rec basketball team created by a friend group of eight juniors — made their notable Great American Basketball League (GABL) debut on Jan. 8, losing to another East rec team 72-44. 

The players pride themselves in having fun — regardless of the score.

“I like to win,” player and junior Patrick Flint said. “But at the end of the day it’s just a GABL game. It doesn’t really matter if you win or lose.”

To be fair, none of the players are currently on an official basketball team — some haven’t even picked up a basketball since kindergarten. 

Instead of recognizing the team’s skills on the court, students know the Fireballz for their Instagram account with hype videos, weekly MVPs and game recaps according to fan junior Lauren McGuire. After losing the first two games by at least 15 points, the account run by players and juniors Alex Tiedt and Mason Hedrick started posting fan submissions with more clips of airballs and failed rebounds than the ball actually touching the basket. 

The games start off with good intentions — Fireballz players dribble down the court and dogpile over the ball. But setbacks like accidentally giving an opposing player a bloody nose or running into their own players often delay victory. 

“I bent down to grab the ball and shouldered him in the nose,” Hedrick said. “I didn’t think it was that bad until it started bleeding. His whole nose is a little crooked.”

According to Flint, GABL stopped running the highschool league a couple years ago due to teams like the Fireballz who are there just to mess around. The league resumed this year, but doesn’t tolerate any horseplay. 

At the end of their second game, after two consecutive half-court shots while trailing 18 points, the ref ended the game 55 seconds early — the team started to joke around, violating the policy.

The Fireballz dress to dazzle and taunt the other teams  —  by wearing headbands, arm sleeves or Flower’s signature bright red futsal sneakers.

“I think it’s funny that we all wear a bunch of accessories even though we’re not crazy good at basketball,” Flint said. “It might make us look a little better until they see us play and are like ‘What the hell?’”

The Fireballz lineup features a range of unique personalities. For example, when Flower isn’t warming the bench, he sprints up and down the court, trying his best to steal the ball from his sometimes six-foot opponents and perfecting his half-court airball.

“It’s fun to watch Alex play defense with his little futsal shoes,” junior and teammate Hudson O’Neill said. “His form is terrible.”

Meanwhile, junior Chris Minto showed up to the first game in pants — expecting the league to provide shorts for each player (spoiler alert: they didn’t). After spending the first half tripping over his flailing loose pants, he was finally desperate enough to borrow a pair of skin-tight lacrosse shorts from one of his female friends in the stands.

Minto’s outfit change brought a new energy to the cheers from the so-called “student section.” Some fans on the varsity cheer team performed unofficial stunts at halftime. Signs that say “let’s go boys” and fatheads of the players add to the humor of the game for the team.

“You bring posters to basketball and football games at East, so when they brought them to the GABL game it made it even more funny,” Flower said. “[The signs] take a humorous tone to something more serious.” 

McGuire accompanies the team to all of their games and some scrimmages at Matt Ross. As the only regular fan who actually plays school basketball, she shouts tips at the players — hoping to make each jump shot slightly less embarrassing for the team as the game goes on.

“I forget that they’re not basketball players,” McGuire said. “I expected them to be a lot better than they were. It’s really funny to watch them try hard and then fail.”