The Racette girls basketball program hosted Hoops 4 Cancer this weekend, welcoming five senior teams and two juniors teams to take part in a tournament aimed at raising money for Haying in the 30’s.
Racette picked up the finals victory in the senior tournament with a 39-32 win over the Holy Rosary Raiders from Lloydminster, a game that coach Kathleen Gerlinsky said did not come easily.
“We played them earlier in the round robin and lost to them by, I think eight points,” said Gerlinsky.
Racette found themselves trailing 9-6 following the first quarter, and while it took them some time to find momentum, the Racette girls took over the game in the third quarter and didn’t look back.
“We were going in mentally thinking that we would have to play hard against the team, and I’ve never seen the girls play this hard. This is the best performance I’ve seen out of the girls all season, so hopefully good things are ahead.”
Holy Rosary pushed to get back into the game in the fourth, but Racette managed to hang on to pick up the tournament victory on their home court.
Gerlinsky pointed out that for each of the 37 successful free throws made at the tournament, $13.06 was donated to Haying in the 30’s from pledge sheets.
“All the teams were given a pledge form and they canvassed around their towns and we managed to get $13.06 for the free throw shooting and we still have flat pledges as well,” she said, adding a special thank you to the volunteer referees. “All the money is going to Haying in the 30’s and almost every ref that reffed donated their time.”
Gerlinksy added that a unique aspect of this tournament was how late it ran on Friday night, as some girls were found playing basketball into the early hours of Saturday morning.
“Games go all night long, so we had a shooting competition from 11:30 p.m. to 12 a.m., and then a game at midnight,” said Gerlinsky. “It was hard to play some of the games when they’re just totally fatigued and living off four hours of sleep, but they were amazing.”
The Racette girls basketball team will travel to Bonnyville this weekend for a tournament, with another in Mallaig at the end of February before SPAA Finals tip off in early March.
The Ashmont Falcons took third in the senior tournament with an 18-17 victory over the NHS Knights, while the Ashmont Falcons junior team claimed victory in the junior tournament, besting the Racette Raiders in the final.
