The Old Hammondtown School sixth grade class put another notch in its belt on Friday night as students faced off against staff for their annual charity game.

The sixth graderrs won for the fifth time in seven years. This year's score, a narrow 42-41, showed that the teachers could hold their own.

Sixth grader Matthew Carvalho said he had fun playing against his teachers, though it was "surreal."

"They had one of their better squads," said Carvalho, whose dad also just won a pretty important basketball game. "Also it's hard for a kid to guard a 6'4" teacher [like] Mr. Squire."

About 60 students alternated throughout the game versus around 15 staff. Although they were outnumbered, the OHS staff team held its ground throughout the game, ending the first half up nine points.

"We came out on fire," said physical education teacher Chad Cabeceiras. "Those kids made us work for it. They were up and down the court."

Carvalho didn't let his team get down about the score.

"I was trying my best to pump everyone up at halftime," he said.

It seemed to have worked. In the third quarter, the students upped their game with a quick two-points.

"Then they just didn't stop scoring," said Cabeceiras.

The teachers fell behind with four minutes to go and made a short-lived comeback, but the kids, coached by Asst. Principal Kevin Tavares, took the lead. Teacher Julie Letourneau, a formidable force on the court, made one last three-point shot in the final seconds of the game, but they still fell just shy of the win.

"We didn't mind losing by one," said Cabeceiras. Plus, he said, "the students and staff said they had a really good time and no one got hurt."

Besides a friendly rivalry on the court, the focus of the night was on helping others.

Every one in the crowd was asked to bring a canned good for the St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry in New Bedford or make a donation to the Mattapoisett PTA for admission.

Cabeceiras said every empty box brought to hold donations was filled by the end of the night.

"The night was a total success."