Photo: New England Patriot LeGarrette Blount at the Belmont Boosters Fundraising game. 

Apparently, afternoon traffic set back the basketball game’s starting time by a few minutes. But by 7 p.m., several very skilled, really big and quite successful athletes were on the Wenner Field House court ready for a fun time in Belmont. 

And from the enthusiastic response from fans and players, Wednesday night’s Belmont Boosters Club’s fundraiser between the Super Bowl champions New England Patriots Celebrity Basketball team against a rag-tag team of Boosters All Stars.

While the game had its moments – Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler’s near half court three-point baskets, how fast nose tackle “Sealver” Siliga is on the court and running back LeGarrette Blount bouncing around with kids during the lineup announcements – the true winners will be Belmont High School athletes, said Boosters’ Ann Reynolds.

“This is one of three big fundraisers the Boosters had in the past two years,” said Reynolds, noting the organization is in the second of a three-year contract with the Patriots.

Along with the annual golf tournament and the yearly October door-to-door fundraising “drive,” the game supports the Boosters purchase of jackets awarded at the seasonal athletic awards nights, championship banners in the field house, the team captain leadership program and a great amount of equipment and material to support of high school sports. In the past six years, the Boosters have contributed approximately $130,000 to the athletic department.

The latest project that will be undertaken by the Boosters will be renovating the school’s weight room and transform it into a fitness center, introducing new equipment and a rubberized floor. 

Those who wish to support the new fitness center, you can visit the Boosters website.

“Sometimes we have to remind people that we have sports at the high school and that we need to support them,” said Reynolds, before rushing off to tackle a number of tasks to keep the event on time.