Defend the Den was a tightly fought game on Saturday, May 4, between Boys’ Lacrosse and Providence, where the Bears barely pulled through with a win by one point. 

Throughout the week leading up to the event, there were festivities, including a donut truck, a Mario Kart competition, and, what seemed to be the largest attraction, a basketball game between the seniors and faculty, where the seniors led 14-2 at the half, and the game finished at 23-16 after the faculty fought back, but could not steal the win in the second half. 

Sarah Warren, an integral part of the planning process, described that, “there was a lot of work done last fall to make the event more inclusive and bigger this year, and I think that was really successful.” Part of that process was “Intentional reach outs to groups to get people involved and make it an event that wasn’t just a lacrosse game.” 

Different in the planning for her was that “Forum really stepped in to think how can we make this an event that still includes people.” 

On the subject of energy, Warren described, “there were elementary first graders as excited as middle schoolers, as excited as high schoolers, as excited as some adults… and to see that enthusiasm was really exciting.”

According to the announcer for the game, Fifi Tierney ‘24, “Typically, not a lot of people show up [to sports games], but because of Defend the Den, we saw a lot of people show up to support the team, and this created a supportive and energetic environment.” 

For lacrosse player Jackson Gammack ‘24, the most memorable moment of the game was the dramatic last-minute winner.  “It was a relief that we held on and won the game, and everyone was happily celebrating…due to interesting reffing decisions, things were not always going our way, and everyone held on for the win,” Gammack said. 

The man behind the Cyrus costume, Luke Lentini ‘24, enjoyed the energetic environment. “It was amazing to make everyone’s day and make them happy,” Lentini said. “I really enjoyed everyone being so nice to everyone and being so outgoing, and people just vibing.”