ELKINS, W.Va. (WBOY) — Members of the Randolph County Sheriff's Department (RCSD) stopped by Elkins Middle School on Friday to challenge students to a game in the hardwood forest.
Members of the club faced off against students in a basketball game, marking the third such game in the past year against students from Herman Valley Middle School and Tygart Valley Middle School.
RCSD has been playing these games for the past three years as an outreach program aimed at getting students familiar with police.
Sergeant Danny Pennington said intramural baseball has made it easier for students to get to know them in the community. We're not the big, scary cops they think we are. ”
He said the sheriff's department's strategy for the game was “just not to pass out on the court.”
Despite some hot shooting from Elkins Middle, including seven threes in the first quarter, the defense and defensive presence inside was too much and RCSD won 98-68.
Late in the game, the Elkins Middle coach employed an interesting strategy to rebuild his team, including inserting himself as the sixth defender. When that failed to close the deficit, he tried to have all players play at the same time, a strategy the players enjoyed.