A high-flying, comedy-filled basketball team will return to Northwest High School next month for a fundraising game and show.
The Harlem Wizards will put on a show at 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 19, at the school, 6005 Cedar Hill Road, in Cedar Hill. Doors will open at 1 p.m., and the event will end at about 4 p.m.
General admission tickets at the gate will cost $7 for students and senior citizens and $13 for adults. Advance tickets are $6 for students and $10 for adults. Several other ticket options will be available online.
Proceeds from the game will benefit the Northwest Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the event and uses the money to fund scholarships for area students, said Julie Schwarz, the chamber’s executive director.
As part of the basketball show, the Harlem Wizards will play against four local teams, each organized by a local business, she said.
It will be the second consecutive year and fifth time overall for the Harlem Wizards to perform at Northwest High.
The team, based in New Jersey, is known around the world for its amusing, basketball talents who perform for schools and nonprofit organizations and, according to the team’s tagline, provide “Tricks, Hoops & Alley Oops.”
Those who attend the show “will see a lot of basketball tricks,” Schwarz said. “They can expect to see a lot of comedy and tricks.”
She said the Harlem Wizards will also perform during the intermission and will compete in dance contests with people from the crowd, as a part of their act.
“It’s a show,” Northwest Chamber of Commerce president Danny Tuggle said. “This is an interaction between professional players and local people.”
Tuggle said there will be online pricing options, including special reserved seating ticket for $18 that guarantees seating close to the court, a free team poster for kids and a $5 souvenir gift card.
A Courtside Plus ticket option will cost $35 and provide reserved courtside seating and a pregame meet and greet with players, as well as a souvenir lanyard, color team photo for kids, a $10 gift certificate for adults and a $10 discount on a Wizards replica jersey.
The final ticket option, called the ‘Benchwarmer,’ includes all the same benefits that Courtside Plus tickets offer, plus the opportunity to sit on the Wizards bench, along with a jersey for kids and a $10 souvenir gift card for adults.
“It’s really all about the kids,” Schwarz said. “But I really think the adults enjoy it as much.”
There’s a limited supply of Benchwarmer, Courtside Plus package and reserved seating tickets.
The Harlem Wizards will also sell souvenirs, including jerseys and other memorabilia.
The chamber will receive 50 percent of all ticket proceeds and 25 percent of the proceeds from the souvenir sales.
Schwarz said the goal for this year’s event is to give out at least 10 scholarships, like in year’s past.
“My goal is to get 1,000 people in that gym,” Schwarz said. “Naturally, the more people we get in there, the more money we get as well.”
Tuggle said more than 600 people purchased tickets to last year’s game, raising about $7,000 for the chamber and allowing for 10 $500 scholarships to be awarded to students.
“(The game is) not a money-maker for us,” Tuggle said. “It’s for us to provide for the community.”
The Harlem Wizards defeated each of the four teams made up of local residents at last year’s event.
Players for this year’s local have yet to be announced, although Schwarz said one team will be made up of Northwest R-1 District staff members, a tradition for the game.
Each local team will play a 15-minute quarter against the Wizards, adding up to a full game.
“It’s all about fun,” Schwarz said. “There’s nothing serious about this basketball game. It’s all about just having fun and getting the community involved to do this.”
Tickets may be purchased online at harlemwizards.com/schedule-tickets, and the online box office will close at 11 a.m., or three hours prior to game time.
Tickets also are available for purchase at the Northwest Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce office at 24 Gravois Station Road in House Springs, which is only open on Wednesdays.