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’s Community Oncology Program of Saskatchewan.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the effort that the girls put in for the ‘Pink Game’ with the fundraisers that they had and the dances that they hosted,” Vikings head coach Bryan Cottini said. “I can’t even tell you the amount of volunteer hours the team did to help raise money for a great cause.
“The 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’s usually expected. It was a lot of work, but it was well worth it.”
Last March, the Vikings were the opponents for a ‘Pink Game’ that was hosted by the Swift Current Ardens, who bought the pink jerseys that the Vikings wore against the Marauders.
“Honestly, we couldn’t see ourselves wearing these jerseys for just one game, so we’ve actually worn them sporadically during the course of the year,” Cottini said.
“We’re 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’s number of organizations in the community that help people out, so if there’s a way we can help them out we’ll step up.”
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.
“We ran a canteen at all of the senior boys’ football games this year and we also helped organize a Grade 7/8 dance at the school that raised a lot of money,” Vikings Grade 12 centre Cammy Simon said. “We 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.
“It’s crazy to see how everything all came together. You do an event here and there to help fundraise for it, but you really don’t see the big picture until everything happens.”
The Crusaders will now be gearing up to host a ‘Pink Game’ of their own next season, as they will be playing host to their in-city rivals in the Carlton Crusaders.
“Since Al Wandler started this a few years ago with the team he coaches in Assiniboia, it’s really caught on and I think 25 schools around Saskatchewan have been involved now,” 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.
“We 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,” Cottini said. “However, our little forwards and guards held on to the lead for us and they did a great job.”
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’s Hoopla tournament in Prince Albert will be up for grabs.
“We weren’t quite at the potential that we want to be as our defence was off a little bit at times, but I think we’re heading in the right direction,” Simon said.
“We’ve improved so much as a team from the start of the season and there’s still a lot of room to grow.”
The Vikings will be in Weyburn this weekend for their final tournament of the regular season.
