EVANSDALE -- Derrick Galle had been absent from Bunger Middle School since the first part of November, but the eighth-grader was not forgotten.

A gym full of screaming, sign-toting fans proved that Thursday. They came to see the eighth-grade girls' basketball team take on a collection of Bunger teachers and staff, all to benefit Derrick and his family.

Derrick, a slight 14-year-old boy with a bald head, watched from the stage, sitting in his wheelchair. Among those surrounding him were his parents, Danny and Heather Galle, and his 10-year-old sister, Megan.

He was pulled out of school to allow for six-day trips to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics every three weeks for chemotherapy treatments. Last month doctors discovered cancer had returned to Derrick's body and was in both of his lungs. He was first diagnosed two years ago with a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor in his left leg behind the knee.

Following unsuccessful chemotherapy, Derrick's left leg was amputated above the knee in October 2005. Now the family is waiting to see if the current round of treatments will help in fighting the cancer.

"He'll undergo another CT scan probably in mid-January to see if the chemo has any effect on the tumor," said Heather.

Danny described his son as a "fighter." Derrick is used to dealing with health problems.

He has been through 25 surgeries throughout his lifetime. He suffers from a genetic disorder of the nervous system called neurofibromatosis, severe scoliosis and a collapsed lung.

On Thursday, the Galles were not focused on those difficulties. It was all about the basketball game, played to raise money for the family. Daeja O'Donnell and Breanna Fencl, two members of the girls' team, headed up efforts to organize the contest. Admission was $1 for students and $2 for adults.

"We just went around and we started asking the teachers if they wanted to play," said O'Donnell. They assembled a team of 11 male and female Bunger staff members.

The teachers' team used fast breaks and some long, wild passes to take the lead early on in the game. Michael Penning, a Bunger basketball coach, made a shot from half court at the buzzer ending the third quarter. The girls' team came back in the fourth quarter, getting within three points with 40 seconds left in the game. It wasn't enough, though, and the teachers won, 35-32.

Last year, Derrick was student manager for the team. So who was he rooting for?

"I was going back and forth," said Derrick.

"He told me he was rooting for the eighth-graders until he saw the teachers were ahead," said Danny.

Fencl was confident of victory going into the game.

"I don't think it's going to be hard to beat teachers since they're older than us," said Fencl, although she acknowledged a range of ages among the competitors.

But winning wasn't the central focus of this game.

"We all love basketball," O'Donnell said of her team. "It was just going to be a fundraiser for fun, and then we turned it into helping (Derrick) because we found out he was sick."

"We decided it's his time," said Fencl.

"I think he's brave for how much he's been through and that he's still pushing through that," said O'Donnell.

"They took the ball. They wanted to do something to help Derrick," said Bunger Principal Brenton Shavers. "They did a great job with it, recruiting staff members to play."

The Galle family was also the beneficiary of fundraising efforts last week, when Bunger held its "coin wars."

Students and staff contributed silver coins or dollars to boost their classroom's total. Those from other classrooms contributed pennies, which counted against the total. The week of fundraising was topped off with a movie night held last Friday.

"With that alone, we raised over $4,000," said guidance counselor Rebecca Ahlstrom, who helped organize the events. "It was a huge effort that broke any records we had."

The school holds coin wars every year for a charitable cause. Ahlstrom said the prior record was about $3,000 and such events usually raise a little more than $2,000.

Another $329.85 was raised for the family at the basketball game. The money was presented to the family in an emotional ceremony at halftime via an oversized check for $5,000.

The money is a welcome help for the Waterloo family as they juggle jobs and Derrick's care. Heather works at People's Community Health Clinic, and Danny works at the ConAgra Foods pudding plant. Gas, lodging and food expenses add up for the regular trips to Iowa City.

"Right now, Heather is no longer working until we get through with this," said Danny. "I'm working as many hours as I can. My supervisor told me just to keep him informed when I can be there and can't be there."

Co-workers also have helped the family as they go through the ordeal.

"I think we're both lucky we work in places that are very family friendly," said Danny.

"I don't even know how to express how much we appreciate how much everyone has done," said Heather.

Danny said he was "literally overwhelmed" by Thursday's ceremony.

"I wasn't prepared for that at all," said Heather. "We know that he's got such amazing friends and all the staff at Bunger are just amazing."

Contact Andrew Wind at (319) 291-1507 or andrew.wind@wcfcourier.com.