Team “White Chocolate Thunder” beat “Alvin and the Chipmunks” in the gym during lunch on March 27, to thunderous applause as its players gained the prestigious title of Saratoga High March Madness Champions.

Team “White Chocolate Thunder” consisted of seniors Ryan Pak, Alex Wokas and Katie Gasik, and the final round was completed in a thrilling 48-34 point game against “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” which consisted of seniors Alvin Hsia, Chris Howmiller and junior Chiyo Hartley.

“This tournament was really important to me,” said Pak. “I wanted to be able to say that I won the Saratoga High March Madness Tournament. There’s a lot of pride at stake.”

Pak credited his team’s win to their size advantage, mainly because of him and teammate Wokas.

“I think we did well because me and Wokas are big and we can grab all the boards,” said Pak. “We had a solid interior game and that helped us win it all. Also, we had pretty good teamwork.”

The roster of “White Chocolate Thunder” changed multiple times throughout the course of the tournament, but the team still managed to stay focused and win all its games. Seniors Chris Chung, Lindsey Marsh and Katie Gasik and junior Stephanie Borsum all rotated in at some point during the tournament.

“I think changing our lineup during the course of our tournament ended up being a huge advantage,” said Pak. “Each person had something to add to the team and we threw a lot of teams off guard.”

Pak said he knew that “Alvin and the Chipmunks” would be one of the strongest competing teams that he would have to face.

“We knew that our main competition was going to be ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks,’” said Pak. “I knew that we would end up beating them in the finals.”

The teams played during lunch in front of a full audience. They had originally planned to play only until one team scored 25 points, but after “White Chocolate Thunder” scored 25 points, the two teams decided to play until the end of lunch. “Chipmunks” team member Alvin Hsia was especially disappointed with his team’s loss.

“They definitely cheated and fouled a lot,” said Hsia. “If the game was fair, we would have won easily. Also, the girls didn’t do anything. They just sat down on the court.”

However, for Pak and his “Team White Chocolate Thunder” this victory will be one he will always cherish.

“I was really proud that we won,” said Pak. “We did this for the pride and now we will always be able to say that we won March Madness.”