The St. Benedict bengals girls basketball team has a new partner in one of their finest traditions.
The Holy Trinity Tigers hosted the Bengals (13-5) in the 2013 “Coaches vs. Cancer game” Tuesday night, in which the Bengals won 40-16. The schools raised $181 dollars at the game alone along with extra money at each school throughout the week. The game was filled with fundraising events, including jersey raffles and a H.O.R.S.E game at halftime.
“It does feel good (to get a win in the Coaches vs. Cancer game),” said Bengals senior forward Ashley Krysztopik. “Not only that, but we’ve raised money at school as well. It shows how much people really do want to help.”
St. Benedict and former Chicago Catholic School St. Scholastica have been participating in the Coaches vs. Cancer game for as long as Krysztopik can remember, since the game was played for breast cancer awareness in 2010. The game shifted to focus on cancer awareness of all kinds the following year, when the game was played in memory of former head coach Harry Osbourne, who passed away of bone cancer.
“The game really took on a meaning for our program with (Osbourne’s) passing,” said Bengals head coach Frank Deangelis. “A lot of our girls and I have someone in our lives that are suffering from some type of cancer, and this game is a great cause. Holy Trinity is going to be a great partner in this whole fundraiser deal.”
In the game itself, The Bengals were in control early, taking a 31-2 lead into halftime. Krysztopik knows their domination was a credit to their defense, and they still have some work to do offensively as the GCAC tournament approaches.
“Our offense was actually kind of sloppy,” Krysztopik said. “We couldn’t really execute, we missed some layups. Luckily we were made up for it with our free-throws and played better defense than we did offense.”
The Bengals will host the Coaches vs. Cancer game at St. Benedict next season in hopes to make the fundraiser even bigger for the community.
