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The smell of the grill, the speakers blaring, and kids running around getting hyped up before the game… welcome to Hillcrest High’s 2009-10 basketball season.

So far Hillcrest’s men’s basketball team has struggled on the year to a 6-11 record and many Hillcrest followers believe that the school should be in the 4A classification based on the size of their student body.

Despite the struggles, the support for their team is far from lacking. While sitting at a recent basketball game, Hillcrest junior and member of the football team, Kevin Leonard, saw an opportunity and ran with it. “We’re not the best team in the world so we thought we’d have a little fun”, the solution, “tailgate”.

For the last five weeks, Kevin and his friends have organized the tailgate by gathering everything on their own and using nothing from the school. “I just kinda scrounge around, get from the neighbors what I can, have everybody pitch in a little bit”, says Kevin.

Tailgates are a common practice for college football games all around the country, but a rarity for basketball season, yet Hillcrest High is proof that it can be done.

“I’ve had about 40 people, 50 people each time”, says Kevin “We come out, we have fun before the game. It draws a bigger crowd”.

It’s a tradition that Kevin hopes will continue and a tradition that should take place at all high schools.