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Sports

Summit Girls Basketball Team Hosts "Hoops for Hope" Night Saturday

Proceeds from the event benefit breast cancer research and local scholarship.

The Summit High School girls basketball teams take on Dayton High School at home this Saturday. Basketball, however, is not the primary focus of Saturday night's games. Instead, the Hilltoppers hope to turn everyone's attention to a much greater cause: finding a cure for breast cancer.

This will be Summit's third-annual "Hoops for Hope" night. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and the Adrienne Reid Memorial Fund. The junior varsity game begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by the varsity game at 7 p.m.

"The girls came to me two years ago and said they'd like to do something to raise money for finding a cure for breast cancer," said Summit head coach Brian Erickson. "At the time, Adrienne Reid, the mother of one of my players, was struggling with the disease. We wanted to do something to help, so that first year, we had a bake sale and had maybe 100 people in the gym for our game. We raised $875."

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Word spread about Hoops for Hope and, last year, the gym was sold out for the event. The Hilltoppers raised $4,200 in one night. Unfortunately, Adrienne Reid passed away after a 16-year battle with breast cancer prior to the second Hoops for Hope night. Her memory still lives on, though, in both the hearts and minds of the Summit community.

"Adrienne remains a huge part of what we do," Erickson said. "She was a fixture at all of our games. She was always center court, top row, smiling. She loved basketball and was a huge proponent of female athletics. She always talked about how important it was for young women to play a sport and to become role models."

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Half of the proceeds from Hoops for Hope benefit the Adrienne Reid Memorial Fund, which awards a scholarship to a college-bound Summit High School female athlete. Last year, the scholarship was awarded to senior Hilltopper Suzanne Bell.

Tickets to the NJ Devils game on March 12th, complete with free food and parking, will be raffled at the event. Also raffled will be a round of golf at Baltusrol Country Club, signed sports memorabilia from the NY Giants and NY Jets, an autographed hockey puck signed by the NJ Devils, and an autographed baseball from MLB pitcher Al Leiter. Sopranos star and E Street Band member, Steven Van Zandt, contributed to the event last year and will do so again this year with signed memorabilia.

Also available will be custom-designed "Defending the Cure" t-shirts, pink magnets, bake sale items, and a 50/50 raffle.

This is not the only event in which the Summit girls basketball team reaches out to help others. Each year, they host a free basketball clinic for girls ages 5-13. An organization called GoGirlWorld.org, located in Atlanta, GA, heard of the Hilltoppers' many charitable acts, and awarded the team's dedication to their community with a $2,500 grant.

"We won a grant for various community service projects, and with the money, I bought the girls pink uniforms to wear the night of Hoops for Hope," Erickson said. "This event really means a lot to our program and to the girls."

Senior forward Cassie Hall agreed: "It's our favorite game of the year,"  she said. "Mrs. Reid was always at our games–she was our biggest supporter, and so we like to play for her. She's always on our mind. We're all really excited about the event."

The Hilltoppers hope the event continues to grow; their goal is to exceed $5,000 in donations at this year's Hoops for Hope.

"We're hoping to get a lot of people to attend this year's event," Erickson said. "It's not about winning or losing, or even about basketball. It's about fighting this dreadful disease. Adrienne means so much to our program and to the entire community. She was a hero to a lot of people."

Join the Hilltoppers at this Saturday's Hoops for Hope to help "defend the cure" and raise money to fight breast cancer.

If you are unable to attend Hoops for Hope on Saturday night, you can still help.

Donations to the Adrienne Reid Memorial Fund can be made to:
Summit Area Public Foundation
Attn: Adrienne Reid Memorial Fund
PO Box 867
Summit, NJ 07902-0867

Donations to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure may be made to:
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Attn: Donor Services
PO Box 650309
Dallas, TX 75265-0309

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