The celebratory song, however, wasn’t what you would expect from a group of high schoolers with TikTok — it wasn’t Sabrina Carpenter or Taylor Swift or Drake.
It was the ‘Hokey Pokey.’
“That’s been a tradition since I can remember, and we’ve all just kept it through since our freshman year,” said Stebbins senior Aubrey Fritz. “It’s really fun. It’s our little team tradition.
“I love it. I think it’s different, and it’s super cool.”
The senior class said they celebrated victories their freshman season by singing the ‘Hokey Pokey’ with former coach Al Cridge. When Autumn Johnson took over the program the following year, the tradition stuck.
When it sounds like the song is about to end, someone in the locker room shouts ‘Remix!’ and it continues a few more verses.
“After our first win, when I got the job, they’re like, ‘Well, we have to do the ‘Hokey Pokey’,” Johnson said. “But I’m like: ‘What are you guys talking about?’ And so we’ve just kept it alive.”
The ‘Hokey Pokey’ isn’t the only thing that’s turned around in Riverside.
After an 8-15 season in 2022-24, the Indians have won 47 games over the last three seasons, including back-to-back Miami Valley League Valley Division championships.
They won 16 games in the three seasons before the senior class arrived on campus.
“It’s exciting,” said Indians senior Miley Amann. “It’s just different to change Stebbins — it feels nice as a senior to come in and be an example for the underclassmen."
A year ago, the Indians advanced to their first district final in 42 years. Now, they’ve accomplished the feat in back-to-back seasons.
“Over the last couple years, we’ve been really trying to change the culture in a better direction,” Johnson said. “I think they’re excited.”
Stebbins (16-7) will play Loveland (15-8) in a D-II district final game at 11 a.m. Saturday at Fairborn. The winner will play either Mount Notre Dame or Kings in a D-II regional semifinal game at Princeton High School on Tuesday.
“We’re coming for it,” Fritz said of winning a district title. “We want it bad. We could have had it last year, and I think we have an even better chance of getting it this year.”
The Indians enter the district final on a three-game winning streak. They struggled at times against Northmont, but were able to pull through to keep their season alive.
“I think we played really well as a team, and we just need to continue to do that for the rest of our season,” said senior Kenzie Roche. “It’s really nice to come out at Stebbins and winning first round of the tournament when freshman, sophomore year, we couldn’t do it. We struggled every single game to push through and now we’re working hard as a team, we’re doing the right things, and we just keep pushing the whole game.”
The senior class has played a key role in the Stebbins girls basketball program’s resurgence, something they’ll be proud of when their careers are over — and that’s what it’s really all about.
“It’s really important to all of us,” Roche said. “We all have been in the Mad River District our whole life, and we’ve all played basketball together (for years), and it just feels really nice for all of us to come together. The energy is there at all times.”
Especially when they’re doing the ‘Hokey Pokey.’
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