Months of hard work paid off in a number of ways for the North Battleford Comprehensive High School Vikings senior girls basketball team last Wednesday night.
Not only did the team come away with a narrow 49-48 win over the Prince Albert St. Mary Marauders on their home court, but the team also raised $12,908 that was donated to the Battlefords Union Hospital鈥檚 Community Oncology Program of Saskatchewan.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be prouder of the effort that the girls put in for the 鈥楶ink Game鈥� with the fundraisers that they had and the dances that they hosted,鈥� Vikings head coach Bryan Cottini said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 even tell you the amount of volunteer hours the team did to help raise money for a great cause.
鈥淭he preparations for a game were similar to most during the course of the year, but everything else that was taking place away from the court was over the top of what鈥檚 usually expected. It was a lot of work, but it was well worth it.鈥�
Last March, the Vikings were the opponents for a 鈥楶ink Game鈥� that was hosted by the Swift Current Ardens, who bought the pink jerseys that the Vikings wore against the Marauders.
鈥淗onestly, we couldn鈥檛 see ourselves wearing these jerseys for just one game, so we鈥檝e actually worn them sporadically during the course of the year,鈥� Cottini said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e open to wearing them in coming seasons to help a worthy cause. Obviously, the colour pink is representative for the fight against cancer, but there鈥檚 number of organizations in the community that help people out, so if there鈥檚 a way we can help them out we鈥檒l step up.鈥�
In addition to funds raised during the game from a 50/50 draw, a silent auction, pink t-shirt sales and a canteen, the Vikings players were involved in a number of events during the course of the school year to help with donations.
鈥淲e ran a canteen at all of the senior boys鈥� football games this year and we also helped organize a Grade 7/8 dance at the school that raised a lot of money,鈥� Vikings Grade 12 centre Cammy Simon said. 鈥淲e saw how the whole community came together last year when we played in Swift Current and it really inspired us and got us excited for what took place here.
鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy to see how everything all came together. You do an event here and there to help fundraise for it, but you really don鈥檛 see the big picture until everything happens.鈥�
The Crusaders will now be gearing up to host a 鈥楶ink Game鈥� of their own next season, as they will be playing host to their in-city rivals in the Carlton Crusaders.
鈥淪ince Al Wandler started this a few years ago with the team he coaches in Assiniboia, it鈥檚 really caught on and I think 25 schools around Saskatchewan have been involved now,鈥� Cottini said.
The game itself was a tightly contested affair that went down to the final seconds, as the Vikings held off a late fourth quarter charge by the Marauders.
鈥淲e got in a little bit of foul trouble there at the end and we were without our two post players [Simon and Abby Neufeld] for the last few minutes,鈥� Cottini said. 鈥淗owever, our little forwards and guards held on to the lead for us and they did a great job.鈥�
Mia Cottini led the way for the Vikings with 17 points on offence, while Anika Cottini had 10 points.
The Crusaders received a 15-point performance from Shay Swystun in the loss and 11-point output from Emily Hemsworth.
The contest was also a good tune-up for the Vikings as they met with an opponent they could face at the 5A girls rural regional tournament in Weyburn next weekend, where two spots at this month鈥檚 Hoopla tournament in Prince Albert will be up for grabs.
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 quite at the potential that we want to be as our defence was off a little bit at times, but I think we鈥檙e heading in the right direction,鈥� Simon said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e improved so much as a team from the start of the season and there鈥檚 still a lot of room to grow.鈥�
The Vikings will be in Weyburn this weekend for their final tournament of the regular season.
