Donkey basketball continues to be a big crowd pleaser

You probably won’t be seeing this score on the ESPN channel but just so you know, the defending champs, Pahrump business community team, It’s on like Donkey Kong, defeated the Rosemary Clarke Middle School staff team, The Ba-Donk-A-Donks, in the Donkey Basketball Championship game on Friday night, 8-4.

“Donkey basketball was a complete success,” Donkey basketball coordinator Nancy Berry said. “PVHS and RCMS will split $2,697. This will go toward student rewards and staff supplies.”

Berry said there were 565 people in attendance and the schools sold 340 adult tickets, 175 student tickets and 50 child tickets. She said there were four winners for the poop squares, totaling $575 in payouts to winners, the remainder went to the schools.

This year there were eight teams playing for the championship. The high school staff was the Rump Riders, the middle school team was the Ba-Donk-A-Donks, the high school student team was the Dunking Donkaholics, the elementary schools team was the Dunkin Donkeys, Nye County schools staff and Desert View team was the Jazz, the NyE Communities Coalition team was the Thunder Donks, the community business team was It’s On Like Donkey Kong, and finally, a new team from Death Valley National Park was the Death Valley Heat.

There were four games with each team playing one game. Then the fifth game had the two teams that scored the most in those games playing for the championship.

Common questions asked about the game:

Do the donkeys poop on the floor? Yes, they do and for the last five years, Joe Clayton has done a great job in making sure the mess is picked up. In addition, the poop is used to raise more money for the schools by having people guess where the poop will land.

Do the donkeys scratch up the floor? No, the donkeys wear special shoes that prevent them from doing that.

Do you have to shoot the ball from the donkey?

Yes, in order to score you have to shoot from the donkey and can’t dismount to shoot.

Are the donkeys treated well? The company, Donkey Sports, Inc. of Entiat, Washington, says extreme care is used to make sure the riders don’t do the animals harm.

From their website: “The treatment of the donkeys during the donkey basketball game is of utmost concern to Donkey Sports, Inc. We insist on our employee be the referee to ensure that the donkeys are treated humanely and with respect. Players who do not comply with our standards of treatment are replaced. Some of the treatment standards are weight limits, no hitting or kicking of donkeys, and no pulling of donkey ears, hair or tails.”

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com