Basketball game benefits charity

Evans High School's boys basketball team isn't scheduled to play Tuesday, but two Knights will coach in a game that could change lives.

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Seniors Matt Clark and Wes Wuchte are putting on a charity basketball game with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society. The event will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Evans High School gym. Wuchte said the game is open to the public and free of charge, and donations will be accepted at the door.

"I've raised about $697 so far, and my goal is to bring in about a thousand," Wuchte said. "I sent out letters asking for donations, and we had a lot of people send in checks. We got Logan's Roadhouse as our sponsor."

Like the rest of the high school seniors in the county, Clark and Wuchte are required to complete a senior project before they can graduate.

The two teammates combined their efforts to hold the event and each are in charge of different aspects. Wuchte took over the fund-raising duties, while Clark's senior project revolves around coaching.

Together, they've worked long and hard on a project that started by watching television.

"We were sitting in my living room, and we saw an NBA game on TV that was being played for Hurricane Katrina victims," Clark said. "We decided to do something like that."

The game will feature several current and former college players and the Evans High School boys basketball coaching staff.

Even before the event takes place, both Evans seniors said the work to put on a charity basketball game has been harder than expected.

"It's been a bunch of work, but I'm real excited," Wuchte said. "We've put up posters and run announcements all over the school. I think we'll have a lot of people show up."

Wuchte will coach the blue team, which includes Evans coach Kevin Kenny and assistant coach Brian Killips. Clark will coach the yellow team, which includes Donald Skinner and Roger Clark, fathers of two Evans basketball players.