A fundraising basketball tournament drew nearly 100 kids to Vernon Saturday, Nov. 25.
The Vernon Secondary Panthers’ girls teams (senior, junior, Grade 8) hosted its second annual 3V3 event, organized by Junior head coach Andy Collins.
The event attracted about 33 teams with players’ ages ranging from 10-18.
“The event will support the three girls VSS Panthers teams travelling to the upcoming TESSA basketball tournament in Surrey,” said Collins. The event runs Feb. 2 and 3 and is the largest all-girls tournament in B.C. The two-day invitational event is held in memory of Tessa Beauchamp, a star player who died at the age of 18 from cancer.
“It provides an invaluable opportunity for the girls to compete with the best of the best, and funds going to support the Tessa Beauchamp Foundation,” said Collins.
Playing under FIBA 3-on-3 rules, the teams battled it out all day on the VSS courts until there was a winner in each division.
Winners included:
• Grade 4-5: Tornados (Vernon);
• Grade 6/7 Boys: Bucket Squad (Kamloops);
• Grade 8 Boys: Wolfpack (Kamloops);
• Junior Girls: Hoops we did it again (Vernon);
• Junior Varsity Boys: No Hops (Vernon);
• Varsity Girls: Cash Cows (Vernon);
• Varsity Boys: Tushars Boys (Vernon-Kelowna).
Kian Story (Tushars Boys) was crowned tournament MVP for the boys and Chloe Collins (Cash Cows) was awarded MVP for the girls.
“We hope to see this tournament grow in the future,” said Andy Collins. “I was very pleased with the player turnout, and happy to reach the team’s fundraising goals. The support of our community for high school sports in Vernon is strong and very much appreciated.”
A special thank you for prize donations goes out to SilverStar Mountain Resort; Back To Earth; Pleasant Valley Dental; and Concept Physiotherapy.
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