Fans walking into the River Falls High School gym Friday night before the start of the boys' basketball game against rival Hudson saw Wildcat Activities Director David Crail frantically scraping snow off the walkway. Crail resembled the neighbor in the movie Home Alone with shovel in hand, minus the beard and a couple decades of time.

An activities director wears many hats on wintry Friday nights. On this night, Crail was not only helping host the rival Raiders for some Big Rivers Conference girls’ and boys' basketball, he was also over-seeing a food fight started by Cheryl Schwantz.

This food fight was far different from the one Bluto started at mythical Faber College in 1962 with the Delta Tau Chi fraternity.

Schwantz, donned in her orange "Hoops for Hunger" T-shirt, was the volunteer coordinator for a double header food fight to corral food donations for the Our Neighbor's Place backpack program, helping support the increasing need in Pierce County.

"A lot of us go buy food when we need it and if we're out, we go buy more," said Our Neighbor's Place Executive Director Shelly Smith. "That just isn't the case for everybody."

According to United Way statistics, one out of every three households is at the A.L.I.C.E. poverty line or below in Pierce County. A.L.I.C.E. stands for asset limited income constrained employed.

"It's the folks that are one car repair, one medical expense, or a few hours reduction at work away from needing basic items," said Smith. "For every three households in Pierce County, one of them is barely making it either at the A.L.I.C.E. level or below. That’s hard to think about."

The Hudson and River Falls' boys’ game was filling up the hoops with three-pointers inside the gym on the court. The Raiders' Tyler Lessard knocked down seven of them for a game-high 25 points and the Wildcats' Preston Johnson had five threes for a team-high 23 points. The fans, however, were filling up huge bins of donated food in the commons area outside the gym. The huge "Hudson Food" bin was on the left and the "River Falls Food" bin was on the right.

"I wanted to use sports as a positive way to give back and help the community," said Schwantz, who also volunteers on the River Falls Athletic Booster Club. "We’re not winning the game right now, but we're definitely winning the food drive."

Speaking of drives, the Raiders were getting to the basket and creating more fouls. The Wildcats were whistled for 14 fouls on the night. Hudson was 13 of 16 from the free throw line. Hudson committed just seven fouls, while River Falls was just 4 of 8 from the charity stripe.

The Wildcat faithful were much more charitable than their BRC brethren, expectedly in their own gym. The Hudson food bin was a little over half-full and the River Falls food bin was full and had numerous bags outside.

"We also raised $415 in cash," said Smith. 

Our Neighbor's Place spearheads the River Falls' backpack program, providing food for district families in need. 

Wildcat junior guard Brody Graetz was back for the first time in close to a month after a partial quad-muscle tear. Graetz was among the conference leaders in points, steals, and assists before his injury. The Wildcats have faced a rash of injuries and illnesses during the past month. With Graetz out of the line-up, the Wildcats have gone 2-5 before Friday's game after a 9-3 start to the year.

"Whoever we have playing," said Graetz, "we have to play together as a team and find a way to win."

In the "Hoops for Hunger" nightcap, someone donated a huge bag of Hershey's Kisses. The River Falls girls' basketball team had a lot of misses. The Wildcats were just 6 of 35 from two-point range (17%). The Raiders shot 24 or 44 inside the arc, good for 54% and a 63-33 victory. The River Falls' girls fell to 6-17 overall on the season and 5-8 in BRC play. Junior Abigail Treichel continued her ascent into the stratosphere of Wisconsin girls' basketball state rebounders. Treichel collected 20 boards against Hudson. She's averaging just under 18 rebounds per game during the last 10 games. Treichel ranks third in the state (all classes) in total rebounds with 323 after Friday’s game.