With five minutes left in his recreational basketball game, junior Shane Calkins, member of Original Blaze, gets the ball passed to him from a teammate, shoots a three pointer and misses.

This is just an average night for this Okun Fieldhouse rec basketball league. The games start at 6:45 p.m. every Tuesday night and a mix of students and parents come to support all of the teams. A total of 10 teams play with Okun, seven of which consist of students from Mill Valley. These teams include Original Blaze, Flint Hill Tropics, the Beavers, the Shawnee Badgers, St. Jaquan’s, the Terry Geise Disciples and Dirty Mike and the Boys.

Junior Sid Jambunathan, co-head coach of Original Blaze, created his team to compete in every game and have a good time with his friends.

“We had a great interest in basketball but we also want to hang out and Original Blaze is a great way to do that,” Jambunathan said. “It is a great experience.”

Sophomore Luke Sosaya, member of The Terry Geise Disciples, enjoys the laid-back nature of the league, something that can’t be found in other competitive leagues.

“It’s a fun time,” Sosaya said. “A time to get to mess around and not be so serious, unlike school basketball.”

Games can bring unexpected situations to the coaches, but Jambunathan always manages to keep his cool under pressure and control what his team does.

“My general approach is to wing it, that generally works out,” Jambunathan said. “We get into the heat of the moment and we just go.”

 Junior Chase Midyett, head coach of Flint Hill Tropics, looks to this season to make an impact in the league.

“This is my first year but I am continuing on what my brother did,” Midyett said. “We lost [our last game] so we hope to go undefeated the rest of the season.”

Freshman Jackson Drees, head coach of the Shawnee Badgers, has set a goal for his team to get to the top of the league by the end of the season, similar to Midyett.

“[We started the team] to win games,” Drees said. “The approach doesn’t matter, we just get the job done … [we want to win the league] championship.”

Drees also thoroughly enjoys being a part of the Okun rec league because of the people involved and is proud of the job that his team has done thus far.

“It’s a great league,” Drees said. “There’s great people; a lot of great coaches, great players. We’ve got [freshmen] Nick Deverill and Gage Miller out there — great young talent.”

Sophomore Jake Atkins, head coach of Dirty Mike and the Boys, enjoys the familiarity of his opponents and the excitement that each game brings.

“There is a lot of competition out there,” Atkins said. “It’s interesting playing different people that we know throughout the school and seeing other teams compare.”

Playing in each game is a way to relax and compete with your peers in an athletic setting, according to junior Clay McGraw, member of Original Blaze.

“You’ve got to have fun,” McGraw said. “You can’t take the game seriously and you have just got to enjoy it. It’s a good time to get together with some friends and just have fun on Tuesday nights.”

The Okun rec basketball league stays competitive, but in the end sophomore Ross Acree, co-head coach of The Terry Geise Disciples, joined to have a great time playing basketball with his peers.

“[The league] is a little more laid back since it’s kind of just a fun thing to do,” Acree said. “It’s a fun [activity] to do. It’s a great league; everyone seems to have fun with it.”