Hailey Jones did the best she could under the circumstances.
As the last person standing on her dodgeball team, playing in the annual student dodgeball tournament at Canyon del Oro High School last Friday, Jones leaped, ducked and bent every which way to avoid the onslaught of colorful rubber balls hurled at her from across the gym.
With a white handkerchief wrapped around her head and a Superman logo on her black shirt, the sophomore put on a good show, but couldn't keep up with the frenzied attack.
She finally took a hit.
"I was scared, but it was still pretty fun," she said after her team, the Kamikazes, was knocked out in the first round.
Jones, 16, was one of more than 120 students from Canyon del Oro who battled in the tournament, one of the school year's most popular events for students, said faculty coordinator Sara Pecharich.
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Players prepped their teams of eight, with a minimum of two girls required per team, weeks in advance.
"There is a lot of hype leading up to it," said senior Clint Cochrane, who played for a team called Scott Cole. "It is all around school."
Competitors squared off in the gym at the high school, 25 W. Calle Concordia, during the tournament.
One by one, teams with names such as Victorious Secret, Duck Dynasty and the Dodge Fathers fell to players that threw harder and dodged faster.
Some of the favored teams of the evening, including Scott Cole, consisted of upperclassmen, many of whom were on the school's baseball and football teams.
But quite a few underclassmen braved the games as well.
Freshmen Jessa Ramos and Caycie Herring spent most of their first tournament eating pizza and watching the play from the gym's upper decks after their team, the Incredibles, was eliminated in the first round.
The girls, both 15, said they put more effort into their uniforms than into practice or strategy.
This was the first time either girl had competed in a tournament of this kind.
"When you are standing there, watching other teams play, it is really nerve-racking," Ramos said. "But once you get on the court, you are like, 'Alright, I can do this.' "
"You have to think quickly and be on your toes," Herring said. "They can really hurt you when they throw that ball."
Both girls stuck around after getting knocked out so they could root for their friends.
"We want to see who makes it to the finals," Ramos said. "There are a lot of freshmen playing."
On the other side of the gym, in the spectator stands, parents and students cheered loudly for their children and classmates.
Jennifer Powers sat cross-legged in the front row of the audience, dividing her attention between texts and the tournament.
Powers' son, Nick Powers, was knocked out early on, but they both wanted to see what happened next.
"Some of these guys take it pretty seriously," Jennifer said. "They are pretty impressive."
For Leo Khawam, who turned 18 on Saturday, the tournament was an early birthday present.
Khawam's team, dubbed Team Higdon, beat Scott Cole in the final round of play to become tournament champions.
"Everyone around school was saying Scott Cole was going to take it," Khawam said. "It feels good to beat the favorites."
Khawam said his team of mostly juniors played last year too, but lost in the second round.
This year's win had him pumped for a repeat.
"We'll be back for next year," he said.
Contact reporter Gerald M. Gay at ggay@azstarnet.com or 807-8430.
