Free State's Kris Wilson, right, passes while double-teamed by J.D. Wiebe, left, and Craig Rosenstengle during a boys basketball scrimmage at the Firebirds' Raise

Free State High boys basketball coach Chuck Law wasn’t expecting much out of his players Tuesday afternoon at practice.

That was no surprise, however, with “Raise the Roof” – Free State’s winter sports rally – taking place Tuesday night.

“Practice is always tough on this day because this kind of has the kids’ attention more,” Law said. “We struggled a little bit in practice, but that’s to be expected.”

No doubt about it, basketball drills and sprints probably aren’t at the forefront of the mind with a night full of dancing, skits and scrimmages looming.

FSHS girls basketball coach Bryan Duncan knew going in that “Raise the Roof” would be a loose atmosphere, so he decided to have a more serious scrimmage Monday evening with four quarters of basketball and officials.

“Tonight was just totally for fun,” he said after his team’s 15-minute scrimmage. “In our eyes, this wasn’t a competitive thing at all. (Monday) was kind of our run-through where we did a full game – pregame warmups, the whole nine yards. So (Tuesday) was just for the kids to come out, get introduced and have fun.”

That fun included a reality-TV theme for the skits, in which the cheer and pom teams danced and spoofed shows like “Survivor,” “Beauty and the Geek,” and “So You Think You Can Dance.” But the other main objectives of the night were to raise money for Habitat for Humanity and introduce the athletes of the boys swimming, wrestling and both basketball teams to the Free State students and supporters.

“I think anytime you can get a bunch of different groups of kids together and introduce them, it’s always a good thing for the school,” Duncan said. “And to me, that’s what this night’s all about – it’s a chance to come out, have fun, maybe put some names with faces, and then the competitive stuff will come.”

Sarah Craft, a senior forward for Duncan’s team, said the Firebirds had been looking forward to the big night.

“It’s always a good thing to play in front of a big crowd and get a little bit of the jitters out, run up and down the court a little bit,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun to see what our classmates are doing other than athletics and to see how the student body responds.”

Law said “Raise the Roof” means a lot to the student-athletes.

“It’s a great deal for them because it’s a great opportunity for them to come out here in front of their colleagues here at the school,” he said. “You could tell how jazzed they were to be out there.”

From a coaching standpoint, Law said he was just hoping his players would avoid injury while giving fans a look at this year’s team. The Firebirds stayed injury-free, and Law said there were good and bad signs in the 15-minute scrimmage.

“There were times I thought we really moved the ball well and was really happy with what was going on, and other times we were horribly stagnant, and guys looked kind of like deer in headlights,” Law said. “We’ve got some young guys that weren’t quite prepared for what they’re going to be encountering at the JV and varsity level, so it’s going to take some time. We’re going to have some growing pains.”

One of Law’s experienced players, senior forward Weston Wiebe, said he and his teammates should benefit from the brief outing.

“It’s always good to get out there and run up and down the court and get a little conditioning in aside from practice. The biggest thing is to just get out there and have fun with your teammates,” Wiebe said. “For the most part, it was pretty good. The energy was there. We just need to work on the little stuff.”

The basketball highlight of the evening came in the pre-scrimmage layup lines when 5-foot-9 Marcus Holman got up high to throw down a one-handed dunk. That got the FSHS fans on their feet, where the players expect them to be throughout the coming season.

“Our student section’s going to be great this year,” Craft said. “They’re proving that now.”